Fallout
by tamilnadu09
Summary: "As someone who's been one step ahead for a thousand years, were you prepared for this?" Turns out, no one is prepared for the fallout of Homecoming...Takes place after 3x09.
1. Homecoming: The Aftermath

**A/N: **2 month hiatus = new fic from me ;)

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><p>Alaric looked up from the kitchen table, where he had spread out the hieroglyphic photos that they hadn't been able to discern yet. "Damon just called," he called to Elena as she walked through the front door, looking downcast. Alaric put down the photo he had been studying and gazed at her in concern, "He told me what happened…I'm sorry, Elena."<p>

She took a deep breath as she slumped into the chair across from him and absentmindedly picked up one of the pictures. She stared at it unseeingly for a moment, her eyes glazing over with brief regret. "Don't be," she said finally, "It's not your fault. There's nothing we could've done to predict…what happened."

Alaric nodded and glanced up at her hesitantly, "So he's gone?"

She didn't have to ask who 'he' was.

"No sign of him," Elena confirmed, her voice low, defeated. "Stefan made his choice," she swallowed, her hand moving instinctively to her neck before she remembered that she no longer had the necklace with her. "There's nothing I can do about it. It's time that I—let him go. It's time that we _all_ let him go."

"Well, you know what they say," Alaric offered halfheartedly, "If you truly love someone, set them free."

"And they'll come back to you," Elena tried to smile back at him, "Yeah, I'm familiar with the saying." She pushed her chair back and stood up, her body suddenly desperate for sleep. "Where's Jeremy?"

"Out like a light," Alaric began gathering all the photos in a folder as he stood up as well. "That trip to get Katherine really took a lot out of him."

"Damon said that Katherine had to drink from Jeremy," Elena's lips pursed in vague disapproval, "Is he okay?"

"He said he only gave her enough to get her moving again; the rest she got from the blood bags at the Salvatore house."

"Well, looks like she's finally learned some restraint," Elena shoved her chair back into the table with a little more force than intended, and Alaric looked at her in surprise. "She called," Elena explained dully, "To tell Damon that it had been a good plan. And to say goodbye."

"Nine lives, that woman," Alaric shook his head, not noticing Elena's expression. "We should just be grateful that she agreed to help. Damon told me that Mikael actually tried to kill you when Klaus called his bluff."

"Well, we did know that we couldn't trust any of them," Elena hedged, "Rebekah herself warned me not to trust anyone in her family."

At her words, Alaric looked up sharply. "I heard what happened with—"

"I'm fine," Elena quickly cut him off, unwilling to rehash the details of what she had done to Rebekah. "I already feel bad enough about it. Can we just...not talk about it right now?"

"Of course," he moved around her and reached out to grip her shoulder, "Consider the subject dropped. But if you ever have to talk about it, you know where to find me."

Elena didn't turn around to look at him, but she nodded once to show that she had heard him. After his footsteps disappeared up the stairs, she glumly opened the freezer door and stared at the contents for a full minute.

"Lose something in there?"

She didn't move, "I thought you were sleeping."

Jeremy grinned and gently maneuvered Elena away from the freezer and into a chair. He glanced into the freezer before shutting the door and joining his sister at the table. "Anything in particular you were craving?"

"My sanity?"

"Yeah, I think we'd all like that back someday," he deadpanned, jerking out of the way as Elena reached over to smack his arm. "Actually," he paused to text someone on his phone before continuing, "I overheard you and Alaric talking. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

Her response was automatic, "I'm fine. How are you feeling? Katherine didn't take too much of your blood, did she?"

"Shockingly, no," Jeremy considered her for a moment, "I'm sorry you had to miss Homecoming."

Elena raised an eyebrow at him, "You missed it, too."

"Yeah, well," he looked away from her, "Did you see Bonnie before she left?"

"She looked amazing," Elena answered his unspoken question, "But she's still hurting."

"I know," Jeremy met her gaze then, "Do you think she'll ever forgive me?"

"Someday, yes. But for now, she reserves the right to hold a grudge." Elena sighed and added, "Don't worry, I'm pretty sure you're not the only Gilbert that's hated right now."

Jeremy didn't look fazed, "You mean Rebekah?"

At his words, everything that had happened that night came rushing back and Elena covered her face with her hands. "I just...I thought..." her breath hitched, "I thought it would be _my _humanity that would ruin the plan."

"But it was Stefan's," Jeremy said slowly, "His loyalty to Klaus."

"Yes," Elena said brokenly, "Even in his darkest hour, Stefan still managed to salvage his humanity—albeit to the wrong person—and I..." Her voice tapered off, "And I have none left."

"Hey," Jeremy gathered Elena in his arms as she fought back a sob, "Why would you say that? You're the most compassionate person I know, Elena."

"She was so excited to go to Homecoming, Jer," Elena whispered, "And she was vulnerable and _human_ and I just—"

"Did what was necessary," Jeremy interrupted her firmly, "And the fact that you feel guilty about it...that shows how human you really are. Trust me."

'_Do you trust me?' Damon asked seriously, their eyes meeting for a split second.  
>'Yes,' Elena replied without hesitation.<br>'Then you have nothing to worry about.'_

"Elena?"

"Huh?"

Jeremy looked at her strangely before moving towards the door. Elena stared at him in bewilderment as Matt walked in, laden with grocery bags. "I didn't know which one you'd like, so I just got one of each," he said to her, tossing a grin in Jeremy's direction.

"Thanks, man," Jeremy pulled out a pint of double chocolate chip ice cream and placed it in front of Elena. "I believe you ordered a dose of sanity?"

Elena broke out into laughter, shaking her head as Matt handed her a spoon. "Let me guess, every girl's sanity lies at the bottom of an ice cream tub?"

"That's what I've heard," Matt replied, exchanging another amused look with her brother. He sat down across from Elena, studying her from the corner of his eye.

"What?" she asked self-consciously, "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Sorry," Matt blinked once, "It's just...wow, Katherine really knows how to pull off your look, doesn't she?"

"How'd it feel?" Jeremy asked teasingly, "Going to your senior homecoming dance with your ex-girlfriend's vampire doppelganger who has tried to kill us all on numerous, yet separate occasions?"

"Exactly how I always pictured it to be," Matt quipped, earning a begrudging smile from Elena.

"It wasn't too weird, was it?" she probed cautiously, "I mean, Katherine was...normal, right?"

"I guess," Matt shrugged, "We didn't spend too much time together, to be honest. I saw her talking to Klaus at one point so I kept my distance for a while...then she disappeared and I couldn't find her, then Tyler—"

"_What_?" Elena interrupted with a frown, "Klaus was talking to Katherine? About what?"

"Probably the same thing he told Tyler," Matt faltered, "That he was two steps ahead of us?"

"You couldn't hear them? Didn't you ask her what he said?" Elena pressed, abandoning the ice cream and leaning towards Matt urgently, "And then you couldn't find her?"

"Well no, and I didn't get a chance to ask her," Matt looked slightly alarmed at Elena's vehemence. "Because then Tyler called me and told me to get Caroline out of there. Did you know that he—"

"Wait a second," Elena stood up abruptly, "Let me get this straight. So, you saw Klaus talking to Katherine, and then suddenly she _disappears_? Didn't that strike you as, oh I don't know, _odd_?"

"What are you getting at?" Jeremy looked confused, "What's wrong?"

"Something's not right," Elena began pacing across the kitchen, "Damon told me that Mikael drained Stefan dry. The only way he could've shown up at the dance is if someone had fed him blood..."

"You think Katherine ruined the plan?" Matt shook his head, "No, why would she do that? She wanted Klaus dead as much as the rest of us did. Besides, even if Katherine did wake him up, why would Stefan help Klaus?"

"I don't know," Elena's jaw set determinately, "But I'm going to find out."

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><p><em>*as always, the fic will be plot + DElena. Hope you like it so far!<br>_


	2. Double Cross

**A/N: **first off, I changed the name of this fic to "Fallout" because I felt like it better reflected what all the characters will be dealing with ;) secondly, wow thank you ALL so much for the lovely welcome back into fanfic world! I've missed writing for TVD as well, so I'm excited to write something that'll get us through this hiatus! Enjoy!

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><p>"<em>She wouldn't do that<em>?" Elena repeated incredulously, "Do you even hear yourself? Of course she would do that!"

Damon was already shaking his head, "Katherine wanted Klaus dead, probably more than the rest of us combined! He signed her death warrant, remember?"

"But—"

"There is no possible reason that she would force Stefan to save Klaus," Damon went on, ignoring her completely. "No, this was all Stefan's doing. Somewhere in that thick skull of his, he's formed some sort of twisted connection with Klaus." He paused to pour more scotch into his glass, looking bitter. "And you know what the worst part is? I predicted this would happen. I know Stefan, and I know how he thinks. It's the whole reason I wanted him out of the way."

Elena was momentarily distracted from her thoughts, "You thought that he would help Klaus?"

Damon glanced at her over the rim of his glass. "You know what Stefan is like, Elena. His human characteristics of loyalty and empathy are heightened to an unbelievable degree. He's been with Klaus for an entire summer; bonding, rediscovering the part of himself that he kept hidden for so long...that kind of connection doesn't just go away..." He trailed off here, meeting Elena's gaze so intensely that she was forced to look away.

"I know," she mumbled, only looking up again when Damon resumed speaking.

"So, anyway, this is all my fault," he concluded, "I should've vervained him up and chained him down somewhere like that Lockwood cellar."

"Why go that far?" Elena muttered under her breath, "You could've just thrown him into the dungeon with Rebekah down there. It's not like she's going anywhere."

Damon's expression softened, "Elena..."

The front door flew open with a loud bang, bouncing off the wall violently. A second later, Caroline stormed into the living room.

To say that she looked furious would be an understatement.

"So?" she threw her hands up into the air dramatically, "Apparently, I'm not _good enough _to include in your plans anymore? What, am I not strong enough to help you guys take down Klaus? Or am I just not important enough to _keep in the freakin' loop_?"

"Caroline—" Elena began, but the blonde vampire interrupted her heatedly.

"And _Matt_?" she snapped, "You let Matt be a part of the plan, but not me? You know how I had to find out? From _Tyler__! _That's right, the sired moron who shot me up with vervain to get me out of the way of a plan that I didn't even know existed!"

Silence.

"Tyler vervained you?" Damon repeated, looking faintly amused. He raised his glass in her direction, "Didn't know Lockwood had it in him. Tell him I said kudos."

Caroline gritted her teeth, "Tell him yourself. We're not exactly on speaking terms right now."

Elena frowned, "You broke up with him?"

All the fight suddenly went out of Caroline and she slumped onto the sofa, looking less like a vampire and more like a broken-hearted girl. "I had no choice. He...his loyalty to Klaus would always come first with him. And I _know _that isn't his fault, but he was supposed to always be there for me, you know? Not make decisions for me or control me or..."

Damon poured blood into a crystal glass and placed it on the coffee table in front of her before commenting, "For what it's worth, it sounds like he was just looking out for you."

Caroline's head snapped up, "You _hate _Tyler! Don't tell me you're taking his side!"

"The guy's a douche," Damon responded off-handedly, "I'm just saying, he wanted you out of the way to keep you safe. I did the same with Elena, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but you didn't drug her," Caroline snapped back, "You _asked_ her to stay out of the way...just like Tyler should've _asked _me first, instead of—"

"Would you have listened?" Elena interrupted mildly, "If you knew what was going down?"

Caroline glared at her, "As if Damon wasn't bad enough, now you're taking Tyler's side, too? What the hell, Elena?"

"I'm not taking anyone's side," Elena hastened to explain, "It just...it sounds like Tyler's heart was in the right place, that's all. And you said it yourself, it's not his fault. There's nothing he can do about being sired to Klaus. At least you know he still cares about you..."

"And that's supposed to make everything okay?"

"Relationships aren't perfect," Damon glanced at Caroline before looking up at Elena. "Trust me, I would know."

Caroline gave a small smile at that. "Maybe you're right," she admitted, "But don't think you can get me sidetracked by talking about Tyler. I didn't forget why I came here." She looked at them expectantly, "Why wasn't I included in your plan?"

"Because the less people involved, the better?" Damon retorted, sounding annoyed. "There were already too many things that could go wrong, we didn't need another loose end to—"

"What Damon is trying to say," Elena interrupted pointedly, "Is that the success of the plan depended on no one knowing the truth. This way, you weren't forced to lie to Tyler when he asked you what the plan was, and this way you were safe."

Caroline looked slightly appeased, but not completely. "The next time something like this goes down, I better be informed, got it?" Before anyone could respond, she quickly changed tactics. "So, I spoke to Bonnie this morning. She told me your theory on Katherine and Stefan, and I gotta say that it makes a lot of sense...where did she run off to, anyway?"

"Away from here," Damon exclaimed, "Because she's running from Klaus! What part of that do you people not understand?"

Elena crossed her arms, "Are you seriously telling me that you can't even see the _possibility _that Katherine had something to do with this? Stefan had help getting to the Lockwoods, Damon! He couldn't have woken up by himself and crawled his way to the basement to find a blood bag!"

"Of course not," Damon frowned, "It was probably one of Klaus' little hybrids, ever think of that?"

"Oh, so Klaus somehow _knew _that Stefan was going to be drained by Mikael and so he sent one of his hybrids to this house as some sort of preemptive strike?" Elena demanded, "You know that doesn't sound very plausible!"

"Why not?" Damon snapped, "Because it falls into the realm of possibility that Stefan betrayed us? Because maybe it forces you to admit that he can't be saved? That Lexi-regimen didn't work as much as you thought it would?"

Elena took a deep breath, knowing that he was only lashing out because he was worried about Stefan. "No," she said calmly, "I'm not going to pretend to understand why Stefan chose to save Klaus. And I'm not going to pretend to understand why Stefan chose to run even though Klaus granted him his freedom. He's not being Compelled anymore, and he could've stayed but he didn't. He chose to leave, and we're going to respect his decision to do that."

"Oh, are _we_?"

"Yes," she responded firmly, "But what's important right now is how Katherine is involved in all this."

Damon groaned in exasperation, "Without Katherine's help, you would probably be dead, Elena! Mikael was ready to kill you just to spite Klaus."

"I _know_ that Katherine helped, and I know that she probably intended on actually being on our side for this one. But Matt saw Klaus speaking to her, and I think he might've said something that changed her mind."

"Okay, let's not forget that Klaus would've thought that he was speaking to _you _at the time," Damon reminded her impatiently, "Do you honestly think he would've said anything that would cause _you _to go back on the plan?"

This statement forced Elena to bite back her initial response. "That's a good point," she began slowly, "He would've thought he was talking to me...and if he already knew that we were planning something, then he would've tried to use my emotions against me to put a stop to the plan...he would've said something to target my humanity..."

"That may very well be true, but why on earth would _Katherine _be affected by anything targeting her emotions?"

"She wouldn't," Elena tried to think, "Not unless..."

Caroline snapped her fingers, "Unless he threatened Stefan's life!" She stood up excitedly, "Think about it; Katherine is always saying that she loves Stefan, right? So what if Klaus told her that if anything happened to him, then a witch or his hybrids or maybe even Rebekah had been instructed to kill Stefan? That might make her change her mind about the plan..."

"Excellent theory, but you forget that Klaus actually _likes _Stefan," Damon snapped, "There is no way that he would ensure Stefan's death so easily."

"Wait a second," Elena broke in hesitantly, "Remember, he thought he was talking to _me_...what if he..."

Caroline caught Elena's eye, understanding instantly. "But then would Katherine still have done what she did?"

Elena tried to shrug, avoiding Damon's confused expression. "She might have. I've learned never to try and predict her actions. You never know what she's really thinking."

Damon set his glass down with a loud thud, now looking angry. "Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on here?" He stared hard at Elena, but she refused to look at him. With a muttered oath, he turned to look at Caroline. "Well, Barbie? Spill."

Caroline sighed, "Klaus thought he was talking to _Elena_, Damon. To get her to change the plan, he would've threatened someone that he _knew _she would go to any lengths to save."

When Damon still looked bewildered, Elena looked up at him bleakly. "He would've threatened _your _life, Damon."

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><p><em>*the chapters will get a bit longer once we delve into the actual story :) for now, i'm just trying to fill in the plot gaps left by the last episode. be sure and leave a review! xoxo<em>


	3. Blood Brothers

**A/N: **wow your reviews are all amazing! thank you!

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><p>Alaric signaled the bartender to bring him a beer as he slid onto the barstool next to Damon. "I thought you might be here."<p>

Damon didn't turn to look at him as he huddled over his drink, "Did the dynamic duo send you over?"

"Elena and Caroline were worried about you, yes," Alaric acknowledged, "They told me what they figured out about Katherine."

"What they _think_ they figured out," Damon corrected without any real conviction. He glanced over at Alaric then, just in time to see his friend shoot him a knowing look. "What? Just because it makes sense doesn't mean it's what happened."

"Well, no, of course not. But you have to admit…it sounds highly likely. Have you gotten a hold of Katherine yet?"

"No," Damon pulled out his cell phone and set it down in front of them. "But that may be because I haven't actually tried calling her."

"What's the worst thing that she could tell you?"

Damon didn't look up, "The truth."

Alaric reached over and gripped Damon's shoulder, "And what would that be? That Klaus told Katherine, who was pretending to be Elena, that if anything happened to him then it would also mean your subsequent death?"

"That's not—"

"And then Katherine, somehow managing to find a shred of humanity in that cold unbeating heart of hers, decided to call off the plan but had to use Stefan to do it?"

After a few moment of silence, Damon finally bit out in a low voice, "Why?"

"Why did Katherine suddenly decide to save your life?" Alaric shrugged, "Who knows? Maybe she wants you to owe her a favor."

"That's not what I meant."

Alaric paused, "So then, you want to know why Klaus chose to threaten your life when he was speaking to Elena." He hesitated before meeting Damon's gaze squarely, "I would have thought that was obvious."

"Why? Because she cares about me?" Damon fought to keep his expression stoic, "Because Klaus _knows _she cares about me? Is that supposed to be a big revelation?"

"No," Alaric responded evenly, "The significance doesn't lie in the fact that Klaus knows that Elena cares for you. The significance is that Klaus knows Elena would do anything to keep you safe. Klaus _knew _just which heartstrings to pull, Damon."

Damon shook his head once, ignoring what Ric was trying to tell him. "But then Stefan didn't have to go along with it. Why would he ruin _everything_?"

"Because he's your brother," Alaric said strongly, "And he will _always _choose to save you."

"And how is that supposed to make me feel? That this whole time I was trying to save Stefan from himself, but in the end he ended up saving me? _Again_?"

Alaric heaved a sigh, "Stefan knows what you were trying to do for him. And it was ultimately his choice to make. Both times."

Damon stood up then, swaying slightly. "Klaus gave him his freedom, Ric. He was free from the Compulsion…but he still left."

"Come on," Alaric grabbed Damon's cell phone from the counter and slowly led him out of the Grill. "I think it's time to get you home."

"But Stefan would've had his freedom either way," Damon rambled on, completely oblivious as Alaric helped him into the passenger seat of his car. "Because if Klaus died, then the Compulsion would've worn off. But Stefan _chose _to create a bigger mess of things—why would he do that?"

"I don't know," Alaric pulled out of the parking lot and began driving in the direction of the boarding house. "But don't forget that we still don't know what exactly Klaus said to Katherine; we don't know how he had ensured your death along with his. Maybe there was a spell that tied your life force to his?"

Damon frowned, the effort of intelligent thinking almost a lost cause with the amount of alcohol currently in his system. "You mean like Katherine did with Elena at the Masquerade ball?" he managed to say eventually. "But I think that spell only works with humans…but then again, Elena isn't exactly human…"

"I guess not."

"I failed," Damon remarked unexpectedly, "I failed to protect my brother. I failed to kill Klaus. I failed to…save Elena."

"Elena is perfectly safe," Alaric explained soothingly, as one would speak to a frightened child. "Remember, you kept her out of the plan? She was at home, out of the way—"

"But she lost hope," Damon turned to stare unseeingly out of the window, "All this time, she's been so focused on saving Stefan. But then last night, do you know what she said to me?"

"What did she say?" Alaric asked heavily, beginning to realize that this was probably the reason that Damon had been drinking himself into oblivion. "Did she say that she had given up hope?"

"She said that it was time to let Stefan go. And she meant it, too."

"But you're not ready to do that," Alaric surmised, "Especially if their theory about Katherine is true. Because it would mean that Stefan was able to find his humanity even while the switch was flipped; even while he was under Klaus' compulsion. His loyalty to _you _was still there."

"Elena said…" Damon abruptly trailed off as Alaric stopped the car at the edge of his driveway—on account of the four cars already parked there. "What the hell?" he snapped, suddenly sounding much more sober. "What's going on in there?"

He and Alaric both rushed out of the car and into the house, only to stop on the threshold at the small group of people waiting for them there: Caroline, Elena, Bonnie, and Tyler.

"We've been waiting for you," Tyler nearly growled at him, "Where have you been?"

Damon ignored him and turned to look at Caroline, "What is he doing here?"

"Don't look at me," Caroline muttered, "He's the one that called this meeting."

"Oh, so now you're _calling meetings_?" Damon blurred forward until he was face to face with Tyler. "Don't make the mistake of thinking that anyone wants you here," he hissed lowly, "Especially now that you're the _ex_."

Tyler flinched and took a step back, but surprisingly held his ground. "And don't make the mistake of thinking that I want to be here," he retorted before pulling out his cell phone, "But Klaus called."

Elena looked up in shock, "What? Why would he call you? I thought he left town?"

"He did," Tyler began pacing back and forth across the length of the floor, pausing every so often to throw suspicious glares around the room. "Because he was ready to bring his family back to life."

"Excuse me?"

"His family," Tyler repeated, "They're all in coffins. With daggers."

Damon crossed his arms, "Well, what seems to be the problem?"

"The problem?" Tyler laughed humorlessly, "The problem, _Damon_, is that your psychotic brother _stole _them!"

A horrified silence met his words.

"No," Elena stood up, "Stefan wouldn't—"

"He did," Tyler interrupted her, "Because he called Klaus to gloat about it."

"Okay," Damon raised his hands, "I _might _have believed that Stefan would do something like this, but no way in hell would he _gloat _about it. Stefan isn't the gloating type; see, he'd rather sit in some corner and brood about how smart he was to pull it off, but he would never—"

"Well, he did."

Caroline glared, "Why should we trust anything you have to say, anyway? For all we know, Klaus told you to lie to all of us because he's pissed we tried to kill him."

Tyler looked at her in disbelief, "You don't believe me? Fine! Well maybe you'll believe me when he comes _back _to town and kills each and every one of you! Think you'll believe me then?"

Bonnie frowned, "Klaus said he was coming back? Why?"

"Unless he gets his coffins back, he's going to hunt you all down, one by one," Tyler snapped, "Until Stefan finally relents and gives up whatever stupid mission he's on. Got it?"

"Got it," Damon said coldly, "You've delivered your message. You can let yourself out."

Tyler hesitated, glancing once at Caroline, but she didn't meet his gaze. Anger flashed across his face, but he quickly hid it. "Fine," he said evenly, "I'll go. Just make sure you people find Stefan and convince him to do the right thing before Klaus decides to make another appearance in Mystic Falls. I don't want him to hurt anyone else that I...care about."

Caroline was stubbornly still staring at the ground, and Tyler shook his head as he stalked out of the room.

"Oh, one more thing," he paused at the doorway, "Klaus wants to know where Rebekah is and why she hasn't been answering his calls."

"We're not Rebekah's keeper," Damon snarled, "Maybe she's off with Stefan on his kamikaze mission."

"Yeah," Tyler narrowed his eyes, "I don't think so." He began to swing the door shut, but stuck his head back in to add, "You don't want to piss Klaus off anymore than necessary. Trust me."

As soon as the door shut, Elena's eyes widened. "Oh god, Rebekah is down there...and now Klaus is going to come to Mystic Falls looking for her..."

"I would be more worried about Klaus looking for _us_, to tell you the truth," Alaric said dryly. He turned to look at Damon, "Can you think of any possible reason that Stefan would pull a stunt like this?"

"Stefan wouldn't. Not unless someone else was pulling the puppet strings."

"Katherine," Caroline nodded in agreement, "She wasn't able to see Klaus die, so now she has to get her revenge on him in another way..."

"By taking away his family," Elena murmured, "Because he took away hers."

"And once again, she's using Stefan to carry out her agenda," Damon muttered under his breath, "What else is new."

"We need to find Rebekah's phone," Elena bit her lip, "Maybe Klaus left a message telling her where to meet him." She didn't wait for anyone's response before running out of the room and down the basement stairs. She distinctly heard Damon call out her name, but she didn't stop until he suddenly appeared in front of her and she nearly ran right into him.

"Slow down," Damon cautioned, looking over his shoulder at the cell door. "Let me go in there, Elena. You don't have to see her."

"It's okay," Elena took a deep breath, "I can handle it."

Damon narrowed his eyes at her, but nevertheless stepped aside so that she could unlock the cell door herself. Elena slowly walked into the dungeon, forcing herself not to look at the dagger sticking out of Rebekah's back. She reached down and picked up the discarded cell phone on the ground before hurriedly backing out of the room. Damon carefully shut the door and locked it before turning to look at her, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Elena tried to smile, "I'll be fine." Her fingertips brushed his palm as she handed him the cell phone, and she sucked in a startled breath as he suddenly covered her hand with his. "Damon—"

"We have to talk about what Klaus did," he cut her off in a low voice, "Elena, he thought you would choose to save my life instead of going through with the plan."

Elena looked up at him in confusion, "And he would've been right, Damon. I wouldn't have gone through with it if your life was in danger. How can you even think that?"

Damon took a step closer to her, his eyes glittering in the dim light. "You have to understand, Klaus uses our weaknesses against us. If he comes back to town, _you _will be safe because he needs your blood. But he'll try to get to you through the people you care about; Jeremy, Ric, Bonnie, Car—"

"_You_," Elena interrupted softly. "I know." She placed her other hand on top of his, "That's why we have to figure out what Stefan is up to before it's too late." She gestured towards Rebekah's cell phone, "Think you can crack the voicemail password?"

"Yeah," Damon cleared his throat as he let go of her hand, "Let's give it a shot." He began walking upstairs, only to realize that Elena wasn't following him. "You coming?"

Elena glanced towards Rebekah's unmoving body once more, but her mind was somewhere else entirely. "Do you realize that this is the second time that Katherine has gone out on a limb for you?"

Damon paused, the staircase creaking under his foot. "What are you talking about?"

"She brought you the werewolf cure even though she could have run," Elena counted on her fingers, "And now she chose to save your life instead of getting her revenge on Klaus."

"We're not sure that's what happened," Damon began, but stopped when he caught sight of Elena's expression. "I guess she did," he allowed, "But I'm sure she had her own selfish reasons. She always does."

Elena looked like she was about to say something, but at the last minute she merely nodded, "Yeah, I suppose so." She ascended the staircase until she was standing on the stair below him and he turned to look at her, taken aback to see the veiled emotion in her eyes.

"Hey," Damon reached out to clasp her shoulder briefly, "We'll figure all this out, okay? Remember what you said to me last night?" He waited until she was looking at him before continuing quietly, "We'll survive this."

Elena nodded, the ghost of her response echoing in her head. _We always survive. _


	4. Protector

_a/n_**_: _**_see if you can spot the tiny Buffy reference in this chapter- included for aj81writing who shares my obsession for BtVS ;) _

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><p>Elena nervously tapped her fingers on the table in front of her, looking around the Grill impatiently. From the corner of her eye, she could see Alaric seated casually at the bar. She knew that Damon was also sitting somewhere in the restaurant, most likely in a shadowy corner where he wouldn't be seen. Her brother and Matt were both working that night as well—one of the reasons that she had picked this particular night for the meeting.<p>

Just as she pulled out her cell phone to check the time, someone slid a chocolate milkshake in front of her. She looked up, startled, to see Tyler. He gave her a friendly grin, "Matt told me you used to order these like a fiend when you guys were going out, so I took the initiative."

"Thanks," Elena acknowledged as he slid into the booth across from her. She took a sip of the milkshake before saying in an offhand voice, "I thought you might not show up."

"I'm a man of my word," Tyler responded immediately, and Elena inwardly winced. _He doesn't even sound like Tyler anymore…_

Matt walked over to them at that moment, his expression curious. "Can I get you guys anything?"

"I'm good, thanks," Elena looked over at Tyler, "Feel free to order anything you want. I'm buying."

Tyler shrugged, barely glancing at the menu, "Just a coke would be fine." At Elena's questioning look, he winked, "I already had a _bite_ to eat before I got here, if you catch my drift."

"And on that note…" Matt shook his head as he walked away, leaving Elena to stare at Tyler in disbelief.

"What?"

"We don't joke about eating people in this town," she hissed under her breath, "Have you forgotten the need to be discreet?"

"_Relax_," Tyler rolled his eyes, "You're just as bad as Caroline…speaking of which, where is she?"

"Not here."

"Yeah, unlike the rest of your little gang," Tyler smirked as he glanced around the Grill, "What are they all here for? Back-up?" When Elena didn't answer, he leaned towards her conspiratorially. "_I'm _the last person you need to worry about, Elena. With Stefan out of the picture, Klaus has chosen me to be your protector."

Elena nearly choked on her milkshake, "Excuse me?"

Tyler shrugged, "It was Stefan's job to protect you, since your blood is the sole means of creating hybrids. Klaus thought Stefan would continue to protect you even once he was free from compulsion...but clearly he was wrong." He paused, "So now it's my job to make sure that you're safe at all times."

She swallowed, resisting the urge to turn around and see what Damon thought of that statement. "I don't need your protection, Tyler," she said evenly, "I can take care of myself."

He smiled at her, almost indulgently. "I'm just passing along the message. When Klaus gets to town for his revenge, _you'll _be perfectly safe. It's everyone you care about that will pay the price."

Elena's jaw clenched, "I told you, I don't know where Stefan is!"

"It's been five days since he's taken off," Tyler exclaimed, "Can you honestly tell me that you haven't heard from him at all?"

"We haven't heard anything," she confirmed in a low voice as she leaned back into her seat, "Trust me, we want to stop this mission of his just as much as Klaus does."

Tyler studied her expression through narrowed eyes, "Fine. Let's say I believe you...the real question is, what do you want from me? Why did you ask me to meet you here?"

Elena took a deep breath, meeting his gaze. "Klaus. How much time do we have before he gets here? Where do you think he is? Where do you think Stefan went?"

He stared at her for a minute before counting on his fingers, "I don't know. I don't know. And I don't know." He got to his feet abruptly, "I don't know what you want me to tell you, Elena. Klaus is out there trying to follow Stefan's trail and find out where the coffins are hidden. I don't know where either of them are, but I suggest you find Stefan before Klaus gets tired of looking." With that, he stalked out of the Grill, not looking back once.

"Well, that was supremely unhelpful," Damon said, sliding into the space recently vacated by Tyler. "Though I guess we found out _one _thing that we didn't know before."

"That Tyler has been appointed as my protector?" Elena muttered gloomily.

"No, I already predicted that," Damon raised an eyebrow at her questioningly, "Did you really think that Klaus was going to let his prized human blood bag go without protection?"

Elena shot him an offended look but reluctantly admitted, "I guess not. What was the one thing you learned, then?"

"That Klaus doesn't trust Tyler enough to tell him anything," Damon answered simply, "Which means he probably doesn't trust any of his hybrids to help him track down Stefan either."

"I don't see how that helps us," Elena crossed her arms, "We have _no _leads, Stefan hasn't bothered making contact, Katherine isn't answering her phone, we weren't able to find out anything useful on Rebekah's voicemail except that we know Klaus is getting more and more impatient and is probably going to show up in Mystic Falls any day now, and—"

_"Elena_."

She stopped talking to see Damon looking at her in bemusement, "What?"

He nodded at someone behind her, and she turned to see Bonnie heading towards them. "Good news," she announced, pulling her laptop out of her bag and opening it up to show them what she had found. "I was able to hack into the GPS signal from Katherine's cell phone," she pointed to a red dot flashing on the screen. "According to the map, it looks like she's maybe a four hour drive from here."

Damon frowned, swiveling the screen around so that he could examine it. "How do we even know this is her? What if she ditched the phone on the side of some road and that's why she's not answering?"

"I thought about that," Bonnie pulled up screenshots of earlier grids so that they could compare the location of the signal, "But see how it's moving? That means someone has it with them. We don't know for sure if it's Katherine, but..."

"But it would give us a clue of what direction she was heading in," Damon finished, giving Bonnie a curt nod. "Good work."

"What are we waiting for?" Elena stood up, "Let's go." She grabbed her jacket and stared expectantly at Damon, "_Well_? Hurry up."

Damon heaved a sigh, "Why is it that I've somehow managed to spend my entire existence searching for Katherine?"

"Well, you really have no one to blame for that one but yourself," Bonnie responded brightly, handing him the laptop and gathering her things. "Good luck," she said as she passed them, purposefully not looking over to where Jeremy was waiting tables. "Call me if you find anything."

"Will do," Elena replied before turning around to see Damon talking to Alaric. After a few moments, during which Alaric looked less than happy, Damon sauntered back over to her. "Everything okay?"

"Sure," Damon gestured for her to follow him, "If we leave now, we can get there before midnight." When they got to his car, he handed her the laptop, "Keep your eye on the GPS signal. Tell me if anything changes."

Elena nodded, settling it on her lap as she slid into the passenger seat. After several minutes of silence, during which time Damon kept throwing suspicious looks in her direction, she finally came clean about what was on her mind. "Do you think..." she trailed off, biting her lip. "I was just thinking about what Katherine did," she began again, but stopped when Damon turned to look at her.

"You mean about how she ruined the plan, much like she inevitably ruins everything?"

"She saved your life, Damon."

"Yes, I'm sure she has my best interests at heart," Damon responded sarcastically. He glanced at Elena in confusion when she didn't reply, "What are you trying to say?"

"That's just it," Elena turned to look at the gathering darkness through the window, "What if she saved your life because she has a heart, after all?"

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><p><em>*thank you as always for all your wonderful reviews! feel free to follow me on twitter (tamilnadu09) if you feel the need to rant about this CRUEL hiatus :) next chapter: DE roadtrip!<em>


	5. Two Truths, and A Lie

**A/N: **Yup, the Buffy line was from season 6! "We do not joke about eating people in this (house)." Anyway, thank you all for your reviews! Sorry I haven't gotten a chance to respond to them yet, but I thought you guys might appreciate a new chapter instead ;) Enjoy!

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><p>"So," Elena peered out of the window once Damon had pulled to a stop on the side of the road, "Was this what you were expecting?"<p>

Damon got out of the car and leaned against it, watching as Elena did likewise. "To tell you the truth, I was expecting a dead end."

"Well, _I _was expecting something a little more…Katherine," Elena replied thoughtfully, looking up at where the GPS signal had led them. "This doesn't seem right."

Damon glanced up and down the quiet residential street before looking up at the white house in front of them. Although Elena probably couldn't see all that well in the darkness, his eyesight picked up on the little details that she wouldn't have noticed. The garden in the front was thriving_—_a sign that it had been tended to recently. The shutters on the windows on the top floor looked freshly painted, and the house looked well-kept. He pointed all these things out to Elena before agreeing, "Of course it's not right." He gestured for her to stay behind him as they walked up the steps cautiously. "But the signal is coming from in there, so that's where the phone is. We're going to find it—and whoever has it."

Elena began to answer, but broke off when Damon pressed an ear up against the door. "Hear anything?" she asked anxiously, hovering over his shoulder as he tried to look in through the glass panes on the door.

"No," Damon stepped back, looking contemplative. "Either no one's home, or…"

"Or they're sleeping?" Elena offered, "Want me to take a look around?"

"Excuse me?" Damon raised an eyebrow at her before realizing what she was thinking. "Absolutely not," he said firmly, "I'm not opening this door so that you can go in there alone, Elena. What if it's a trap?"

She stepped forward, her eyes beseeching, "And what if it's a clue?"

Damon shook his head, gripping her shoulder to hold her back with one hand as he gently forced the door open with his other hand. There was a loud click as the lock broke away, and they were left standing on the threshold and staring into a darkened hallway.

"Hear anything now?" she whispered, sucking in a startled breath as Damon whirled around and placed his finger against her lips to tell her to keep quiet.

Damon's eyes darkened momentarily as Elena's lips unconsciously parted, and he quickly withdrew his finger. He took a step backwards unthinkingly, and nearly stumbled when there was no barrier to catch him. "What the hell?" Damon stuck his arm out, reveling in the lack of resistance that would normally stop him from entering.

"It doesn't belong to anyone," Elena surmised, following Damon into the house. "Maybe Katherine just left the phone in the first abandoned house she could find?"

"Maybe," Damon didn't sound convinced, "But then again, that's not exactly Katherine's style…"

* * *

><p>"Okay, okay," Caroline muttered under her breath as she tightened her bathrobe around herself and hurried towards the door. She stopped, however, when she caught a glimpse of Tyler through the shade. Pursing her lips, she pulled the door open several inches and used her body to block the entrance. "What are you doing here?"<p>

Tyler tried to peer around her, looking annoyed when she didn't budge. "Is Elena with you?"

"No," Caroline responded flatly, "I thought she was with you."

"Yeah, she was," he crossed his arms, "And now I can't find her anywhere. Where is she?"

"I told you- I have no idea," Caroline began to shut the door, "Good night, Tyler." Faster than she could blink, he flung an arm out to stop her. They had a silent power struggle until finally Caroline relented and let him push the door open. He stepped into the house, looking around suspiciously. "Elena isn't here," Caroline repeated, unable to believe that he thought she was lying about this. "What's your issue, anyway? Has Klaus got you all paranoid that your _friends _are lying to you?"

"Friends?" Tyler scoffed, "What friends? The only person who isn't being a judgmental prick right now is Matt, of all people...What does that tell you, Caroline? That the only person who understands me right now isn't a vampire or a witch, but a _human_?"

"Tyler—"

"Forget it," he cut her off, "I'm here to find Elena; that's it." His tone, which had hitherto been frustrated, now began bordering on anxious. "How am I supposed to protect her if no one even knows where she is?"

Caroline hesitated, considering his tense expression. "Why do you need to know?" she asked slowly, "Is Klaus asking?"

"Yes, of course he is," Tyler snapped, "He wants to make sure I'm doing my job and ensuring that nothing happens to her!" He turned to look at Caroline, forcing himself to stay calm for the sake of her help. "Are you sure you don't know where she is? Where she could've gone?"

She sighed, "I was telling you the truth. I really don't know." Before Tyler could leave, however, she grabbed his arm and said reluctantly, "But let me call Bonnie and find out."

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><p>Elena picked a magazine off the coffee table and examined it, noting the date. "People have been here recently," she called to Damon, who was searching the office in the next room. "This magazine was just mailed out last week."<p>

"And there's search history on this computer," Damon called back, "From as recent as three days ago." He rejoined Elena in the living room, watching as she flipped through a stack of mail. "I'm beginning to think whoever lived here might've met their untimely demise, courtesy of Katherine."

There was a silence before she asked hesitantly, "Not Stefan?"

"No," Damon responded shortly, looking around the clean house. "Definitely not."

Elena stared at him curiously, "How can you tell?"

"Trust me, we would know if Stefan had any part of this," Damon replied darkly, "His killings have a touch of the ripper in them."

"You mean...blood?" she tried to sound nonchalant, but wasn't sure she had suceeded. "His killings are messy?"

Damon studied her expression before blurring over to her. Elena's eyes widened slightly, but other than that she gave no indication that she was startled by his movements. "Elena," he towered above her, instinctively cupping her face with his hands. "Please don't ask questions that you don't want to know the answers to. I don't want to have to tell you about how Stefan kills his victims, and I _know _you don't want to hear about them. Okay?"

They stood like that for several moments, as Elena considered his words. Finally, she swallowed and nodded, "Okay."

"Good," Damon let his arms drop to his sides, but he didn't back away. His head tilted when he suddenly heard a muted beep emanating from somewhere upstairs.

"The phone," Elena whispered, hurriedly following Damon as he took the stairs two steps at a time.

* * *

><p>"So you just let her go?" Tyler raged, glaring at Bonnie in disbelief, "With no <em>protection<em>?"

"She's with _Damon_," Bonnie retorted, "That's protection enough." She crossed her arms, pulling her jacket around herself in the chill of the night air as they all stood on her porch. She turned to look at Caroline with some annoyance, "I can't believe you told him."

Caroline looked conflicted, "It's not his fault that Klaus wants him to report in on Elena's status constantly. Besides, it's not like this is something we don't care about—it's about keeping Elena safe, something we've all tried to do." She shrugged then, "Call me crazy, but I don't see anything wrong with _one more _person wanting to making sure that nothing happens to her."

Bonnie took in Caroline's words before proclaiming flatly, "Then you're crazy."

Tyler stepped in between the two girls before an argument could escalate. "Look, it doesn't matter who's crazy or not. I just need to find Elena before Klaus calls again and asks me to tell him where she is."

"Can't you...I don't know," Bonnie shifted uneasily from one foot to the other, "Lie?"

"No," he shook his head, "I have to answer his questions truthfully...I just _have _to. Do you understand?"

Caroline frowned, "What happens if you tell him that you don't know where Elena is?"

Tyler looked away from her, "I guess he wouldn't be too happy with me."

"Hey," Caroline stepped right up to him until he couldn't avoid her gaze any more, "Did he tell you that he would kill you if you weren't able to fulfill his...orders?"

"Something like that," Tyler muttered unwillingly, shoving his hands in her pockets. "Will you guys help me now?"

* * *

><p>"So <em>this <em>is definitely more of Katherine's style," Damon said as he picked up the cell phone that was lying innocently on the bed. He unfolded the piece of lined-paper underneath it and began to read with a flourish:

_Whether you've found this with a location spell or through some other means,  
>just know that I didn't have a choice. By the time you find this, I'll probably be on the other side<br>of the country—or world. If you're wondering what happened  
>to the people that used to live here...well, they're dead. As for the cell phone, I<br>left it with a girl I found and gave her the instructions of where to place it, in case  
>you came looking for me.<em>

Here, there was a break in the writing, as though Katherine gotten distracted by something. The handwriting, which had been in a neatly curved script, now became hurried and almost jagged in appearance.

_Damon, if you're reading this, I want to tell you not to go searching for  
>Stefan any longer. He's doing something that he has to do, and I fully support<br>his choice to leave. You should do the same. As for Elena, I know that where  
>she goes, you will inevitably follow. Tell her that Stefan leaving isn't personal;<br>he's just doing something for himself, for the first time in his life._

**"**She knows why Stefan left," Elena murmured, "She knew something."

Damon looked up at her, his clear eyes growing stormy. "Of course she did," he said bitterly, "Hell, for all we know, she orchestrated his getaway plan! That conniving, little_—"_

"Hey, wait," Elena grabbed the paper out of his hand, "There's something written at the bottom..." She squinted, but was unable to see it in the darkness. "Can you read it?"

_P.S. I was there when Klaus' father reduced him the scared,  
>insecure little boy that he is. Underneath that hybrid bravado,<br>he's just as human as the rest of us, Damon. The one thing he wants_  
><em>most in this world is to be accepted. Remember that. It might save your life.<br>_-_Kat_


	6. Doppelganger Hijinks

**A/N:** I'm officially on thanksgiving break, so expect more updates over the next few days! As for what I'm thankful for: all of your wonderful reviews! ;)

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><p>Elena halfheartedly zipped up the knee-high black leather boots before lacing together the front. She could see Damon standing at the doorway from the periphery of her vision, but she didn't bother looking up to see his critical expression. "This was just as much your idea as it was mine," she warned him as she stood and tottered towards the full-length mirror. She took one look at herself and grimaced.<p>

"I didn't say anything," Damon let his eyes roam her body, the corner of his mouth turning up in amusement as she tugged on her mini black ruffled skirt uncomfortably. "You just seem a little…out of your element."

Elena shot him a disdainful glare, "Well, this isn't exactly something I would ever wear, Damon. Are you sure this is the look we're going for?"

"Yes," he responded firmly, moving so that he was standing behind her. They both faced the mirror, and she swallowed as he suddenly reached out to grip her shoulders. "I wouldn't have bought you these clothes if I didn't think you could pull it off. This is exactly an ensemble that Katherine would wear, trust me."

She sighed and shook her curled hair out so that it bounced around her shoulders lightly. "Okay," she took a deep breath, "I can do this. I can _be _Katherine."

"Yes," Damon squeezed her shoulders reassuringly one last time before stepping back, "You can."

Elena turned around to watch as he gathered up their things from the hotel room. Since they hadn't exactly brought anything with them, this didn't take long. "I mean, I've been her before. Sort of." Damon glanced up at her with a raised eyebrow, and she amended, "Well, maybe not. But it shouldn't be too hard, right?"

No doubt picking up on her anxiety, Damon began trying to usher her out of the door before she could change her mind about going through with the plan. "I know you've never had to actively _be _her before, but Katherine has pretended to be you plenty of times. Are you going to tell me that she's a better actor than you are?" He winked at her when she blew out an annoyed breath. "You'll be fine," he repeated as they stepped into the elevator. "Besides, it's not like the outfit is _that _bad…"

The elevator dinged open on the ground floor, and Elena flushed before dropping her gaze to the ground as the two of them got more than a few curious stares. "Damon, everyone thinks I'm a..."

"What?" Damon asked calmly, his voice tinged with humor, "A high-end call girl?"

Elena crossed her arms, but quickly dropped them to her sides when she realized the effect that action had on the low V-cut purple tank top. "Not funny," she hissed out of the side of her mouth when they reached the parking lot. "Besides, there's nothing _high-end _about it."

Damon glanced at her from the corner of his eye before grinning to himself. He stopped her from getting into the car and pulled a rectangular velvet box out of his leather jacket. "One last thing to complete the outfit," he told her as he handed over the jewelry box.

Elena opened it begrudgingly and stared at the silver chain inside. A large hourglass pendant hung in the middle of it, filled with what looked like diamonds. "Damon…what is this?"

"I saw it and thought of a few uses for it," Damon shrugged, carefully pulling it out of the box and slipping it over Elena's head. The oversized chain seemed constructed so that the pendant hung just above her cleavage. Elena lifted it to look at the diamonds suspiciously. She didn't know what Damon was planning, but it was probably nothing good.

.

"Ready for this?" Damon parked the car across from the only bar in the town and looked at it appraisingly. "If I know Katherine, then this is probably the only place she might have possibly stopped at...maybe."

"That's reassuring," Elena mumbled sarcastically as she stepped out of the car, gritting her teeth as she fought to keep her balance in the high-heeled boots. "Why women put themselves through this torture is beyond me," she commented under her breath, focusing on the simple task of crossing the street without falling over. "I mean, really, what _is _the point?"

Damon held onto to her arm lightly, supporting her weight as they walked up the short ramp that led to the bar. "No pain, no gain," he quipped, opening the door and waving her in. Elena shook her head but stepped over the threshold, letting her eyes adjust to the dim light. Although it was barely noon, there were already a good amount of people within the bar—something that Damon had predicted, given the small nature of the town and the lack of any other social gathering place.

She began to make her way towards the bartender when a sudden hush fell across the room. She faltered, and felt Damon inch closer to her. "You're back!" the bartender said to her, his eyes widening with surprise.

Elena tried to judge the tone of his voice, and decided that he sounded pleased to see her. "Yes," she drawled, hopping on to a barstool effortlessly. She crossed her legs so that her skirt hiked up an inch, and caught the bartender's gaze flick momentarily to her legs before looking back at her. "I guess I couldn't bring myself to stay away."

"Well, you really brightened up my bar that night, Katherine," he leaned toward her, clearly flirting. "I've never seen the people in here get that...lively."

"I tend to have that effect on people," Elena smiled at him coyly and tapped her fingers against the counter top thoughtfully, "Hmm, how about a drink?"

"Of course!" his eyes lit up, then—to her enormous shock—he hopped over the bar in one quick motion and offered her the side of his neck. "Take as much as you want," he said earnestly, looking excited at the mere prospect. "To tell you the truth, I was a little jealous when you wouldn't drink from me last time..."

Elena froze, completely blindsided by this development. She whirled around to look at Damon, who seemed equally as stunned. "Look man," he started forward casually before grabbing the front of the bartender's shirt and hauling him away from Elena, "Who the hell are you?"

"Max," the man's eyes suddenly became unfocused, adopting the glazed look of someone who has been Compelled. "And you're Damon."

"Yes, yes I am," Damon let go of Max and shoved him into the nearest barstool. "Now. Tell me why you want to be vampire bait?"

"It's what Katherine wants," Max turned to smile at Elena blankly, "She told me that the next time she came here, I should offer myself willingly to her."

Elena shook her head, looking around quickly to make sure no one else was listening to their conversation. "Listen, Max," she said in a low, alluring voice, "Do you remember how many nights ago I was here?"

"Six days ago," he responded immediately, "You said you were just passing through on your way to..."

"Yes?" Elena asked eagerly, "On my way to where?"

Max trailed off, however, a confused expression sliding over his face. "I don't...I can't remember."

"Why don't you _try_ to remember?" Damon asked aggressively, "Did she tell you a town? A state? East? West?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came out. He shrugged helplessly, "I'm sorry. I can't help you."

Damon moved around him to whisper in Elena's ear, "I can try to break through the Compulsion. But the chances of me overpowering Katherine's Compulsion are slim to none."

Elena chewed on her lip, her gaze moving to look at the other patrons in the bar. "What about these people? Do you think Katherine talked to any of them?"

"Judging by the fact that none of them have come over here yet, I would say probably not," Damon turned away, looking frustrated. "Of course that little bitch covered all her bases." He glared at Max, "Get me a drink. A real one. _Now_."

The bartender seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in, and immediately busied himself behind the bar. After several moments, he slid a glass in Damon's direction. Elena raised her hand to signal that she wanted a drink as well, but Max merely shot her a bored glance. "ID?" he inquired lazily, shrugging her off when she didn't pull one out. "Then this is all you're getting," he handed her a bottled water. "21+ only, little lady."

Elena glanced at Damon, half-expecting him to Compel the bartender into giving her a drink, but he didn't seem to be paying attention. "Thanks," she glumly unscrewed the top of the water bottle and took a swig, placing the bottle cap onto a napkin lying in front of her.

Then, she happened to look more closely at the napkin and nearly spat out her mouthful of water.

"Elena?" Damon turned to her in confusion as she began sputtering. "What is it? What's wrong?"

Wordlessly, she handed him the napkin and watched as his expression grew stony. "I'll kill her," he swore, crumpling it up in his hand. "Come on, let's get out of here before—"

"ELENA! Thank god I finally found you!"

Damon and Elena both turned to look at the new arrival in the bar with some trepidation. "Tyler."

.

"Let me get this straight," Damon paced back and forth in the parking lot, growing angrier and angrier with each passing second. "You drove the four hours out here by yourself just to find Elena? When you already knew where she was and who she was with? Really, Tyler, a simple phone call would have sufficed."

"I had to make sure she was safe," Tyler glanced over at Elena, who was leaning against Damon's car tiredly. He frowned as he scrutinized her appearance, "What are you wearing?" Elena sighed and began to explain, but Tyler suddenly cut her off with a laugh. "Wait, let me guess: you're pretending to be Katherine?"

Oddly, this didn't make Elena feel any better, as it only reminded her that they were no closer to finding Stefan and had hit yet another dead end. "It was for a plan," she exchanged a glance with Damon, "But it didn't really pan out as we hoped it would."

"Yeah? Did you find anything?"

Damon unwillingly handed over the note from Katherine that they had found the previous night. "She was here," he said to Tyler, "And she knows something about Stefan. I just wish I knew what it was."

Tyler handed the note back over, looking contemplative. "And no one here knows where she went?"

"The bartender did," Damon shot a distasteful look back at the bar, "But Katherine Compelled him to not tell us anything."

"Did you try...un-Compelling him?"

"That's a lot harder than it sounds," Damon leveled him a look, "Believe me."

"Well, I'm a hybrid," Tyler began walking towards the bar, "Let me try."

Damon grabbed his arm to stop him, and in the ensuing struggle, the crumpled napkin fell from Damon's pocket and on to the ground. Elena watched as it caught sails in the wind and tumbled down the parking lot until it landed at someone's feet. Elena raised her eyes to look at the person and felt her heart thud to a standstill.

Beside her, Tyler and Damon also ceased fighting. Silence fell across the parking lot.

"Such a pity," Klaus said to them as he read what was written on the napkin. "Bonnie was able to warn you about Tyler's imminent arrival, yet she wasn't smart enough to discern that I would, of course, not be far behind." He smiled widely, "After all, what kind of sire would I be if I wasn't keeping tabs on my most important hybrid creation?"


	7. Love Conquers All

**A/N: **yay for this fic crossing the 200-review mark! thank you all!

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><p>"LET ME ASK YOU AGAIN," Klaus roared, shoving his arm against the bartender's windpipe, "<em>What did Katerina tell you<em>?"

"I t-told you," Max wheezed, "I don't…know…."

"You insignificant, worthless imbecile," Klaus shouted in rage, shoving Max to the ground forcefully where he hit his head against the metal siding and immediately fell unconscious.

"Klaus!" Elena exclaimed in horror, dropping to her knees beside Max to check his pulse. After she located one, albeit faint, she glared up at the hybrid towering above her. "You could've killed him!"

"He wasn't being helpful," Klaus retorted through gritted teeth before grabbing Elena's arm and hauling her upwards. Damon started forward, but Klaus only pushed Elena forward so that she stumbled into Damon's arms. "Let me tell you people something," he folded his arms with all the appearance of a man holding a ticking time bomb in his hands. "I do not care about where Katherine is, nor do I care about what could have _possibly _inspired her to convince Stefan to steal my coffins from me. Do you understand?"

"Katherine is—"

"DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

Elena flinched, "Yes."

"Good," Klaus breathed, walking forward until he was inches from her face, "All I care about is finding my family. And killing Stefan. Not particularly in that order."

"Okay," Elena swallowed, fighting against the instinctive urge to take a step back. "We want to find Stefan, too. He's just….he's not thinking straight, alright? Katherine must've put these ideas in his head, and—"

"Oh, come now, Elena…." Klaus roughly grabbed her chin and forced her to look him in the eye, "Stefan's a big boy. It doesn't matter what Katerina said or did, it was _Stefan _who chose to betray me. And so it will be _Stefan _who pays the price. I'd say that's fair, wouldn't you?"

Damon stepped in front of Elena, pushing Klaus' hands off her with disgust. "I think you need to leave."

"Don't cross me, Damon," Klaus hissed, "I might need Elena, but I certainly don't need the rest of you...why, I could kill you right now with absolutely no regrets." Without warning, his hand suddenly shot into Damon's chest.

"Hey!" Tyler shouted, looking panicked, "What are you doing?"

"Stop!" Elena shrieked, "Stop it! He doesn't know anything!"

"Exactly," Klaus glared at her through hooded eyes, "He knows nothing."

"Well," Damon managed to choke out, "Like father, like son..."

"Mikael did this to you, did he?" Klaus' eyes flashed with anger, "I suppose old habits die hard…" He pulled his arm back and let Damon fall to the ground. "Never call that man my father again."

Elena rushed over and hurriedly knelt next to Damon, "Oh god, are you okay?"

"Oh, you know," Damon groaned, clutching a hand against the wound to stem the blood flow, "Just a hole in my chest. No big deal." He gasped in agony as he twisted around to look at Klaus, "I thought…you were bound not to kill me."

"Yes, that was when Stefan and I had an agreement," Klaus snapped, "And I would have continued to honor my word even after I set Stefan free. Needless to say, that agreement has been shattered."

"Fine," Elena lifted a hand as Klaus took one step towards them, "I understand that you're angry. Trust me, I _understand_. You don't think we're angry, too? After everything we did to save Stefan from himself, he _finally _earned his freedom...and what's the first thing he does? _He runs away_." She stood up, being careful to act as a barrier between Klaus and Damon. "So yeah," she crossed her arms, "I'm pissed."

Klaus considered her for a full minute, and she could almost see the gears turning in his head. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that's we're on the same side, Klaus; we _all _want to find Stefan. And if finding the hidden location of those coffins is the way to get to him, then yeah, we'll help you find your family." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, "Just please, don't hurt anyone that I care about."

"Sweet Elena," Klaus reached out to stroke her cheek and her eyes flew open at the unexpected contact. He lowered his voice to a deadly purr, "If you think that the two of us will _ever _be on the same side, then you, my dear, are sadly mistaken." With that, he stepped back from her, warning clear in his gaze. "When Stefan called me to gloat about pulling off this ill-advised stunt of his, I told him that it would be the people he cared about that would pay the price. He, unfortunately for you, doesn't seem to care."

"What else did he say?" Elena asked desperately, "Why is he doing this? What does he want from you?"

"He says I took everything from him, so I'm assuming this is his version of payback," Klaus narrowed his eyes at her, "And if it is, then Stefan is stupider than I thought."

"My brother's always been very stupid," Damon managed to say, and Elena looked down to see him lying in a rapidly growing pool of blood.

She looked back at Klaus immediately, eager to end this conversation as quickly as possible. "Okay, look. Damon and I came here to follow Katherine's trail because we think she knows where Stefan is. We're doing everything we can to find him...we just need some _time_."

"Time?" Klaus' gaze dropped to her chest before he suddenly reached out and tugged the chain around her neck. Elena winced as the clasp broke, and Klaus held the hourglass pendant up to the light. "Diamonds, if I'm not mistaken? Is this yours?"

"Yes," Elena responded defiantly, although she was bewildered by the change in conversation. "It's mine."

"And now it's mine," Klaus pocketed the chain before pulling out the napkin that Bonnie had sent. Elena could still clearly read the hastily scribbled message on it:

_Caroline and I had to tell Tyler where you were, Elena.  
>I think he's on his way to find you now. I'm sorry.<br>-B_

"What do you want with it?" Elena asked in confusion, watching with some trepidation as Klaus wiped Damon's blood off his hand before casually tossing the napkin aside.

"Well, I'm going to need something of yours that will help me see where you are at all times, won't I?" Klaus sauntered away from her, "Especially since I'll be taking Tyler with me as insurance..."

"What? No, wait!" Elena ran after Klaus as he grabbed Tyler's arm and sped out of the door. "You can't take him!" she yelled as Klaus forced Tyler to get into his car. As a last resort, she finally screamed, "What about me? I thought he was my protector!"

Klaus paused, looking at something over her shoulder. Elena turned around to see Damon staggering out of the bar at that moment, blood dripping behind him. "I trust that Damon has your best interests at heart," Klaus responded with an oddly twisted smile, "After all, we always protect the ones we love, isn't that right?"

"But...Tyler!"

"Elena," Tyler held out a hand to stop her from coming closer, "Klaus won't hurt me. I'll be okay."

"I won't hurt you _if _your little friends are able to find me what I'm looking for," Klaus corrected, slamming the car door and revving the engine. "Good luck, Elena. You'll need it." The car began to move, but then Klaus turned to look at her again. "You know, I'm starting to think Rebekah was right about one thing..." He blatantly looked her up and down before adding, "Women in this century really do dress like prostitutes." With that, he sped off, leaving Elena to watch after them with a mixture of indignation and helplessness.

Suddenly, Damon let out another groan, and Elena whirled around to see him fall to his knees. "Stay there," she shouted as she ran to their car, fumbling with the keys to the trunk. She got it open several moments later, hastily pulling out the mini-cooler filled with blood bags. She grabbed as many as she could carry and stumbled back across the parking lot to where Damon was lying. "Come on," she clumsily ripped one open and lifted Damon's head so that he could drink it. "Okay, you're going to be okay," she whispered in a mantra, whether for his benefit or her own, she didn't know.

They sat like that in the parking lot for several minutes, until he had finished all the blood bags that she had managed to carry over. With a sigh, he let his eyes close, letting the blood heal the remnants of his wound. It took him a moment to realize that his head was lying in Elena's lap, as she methodically stroked his hair. Her touch was so soothing, however, that he didn't move. "I could stay like this forever," he murmured, and Elena's hands stilled in his hair.

She gave a very forced laugh, "You mean covered in blood?"

Damon reached up to enclose her hand within his before he opened his eyes. "No," he said softly, "That's not what I meant."

Elena smiled at him then, but it was tinged with sadness. "Are you healed? Do you want me to get more blood?"

He shook his head, slowly sitting up and checking himself over. "I'll be fine," he took a deep breath and got to his feet, wincing slightly at the movement. "Let's get out of here. I don't think we're going to find any more clues. Maybe Bonnie can do something with Katherine's note."

"Maybe," Elena agreed without any real conviction. She wrapped an arm around Damon's waist to support him as they walked slowly back over to their car. "Keys?" Damon handed them over without any argument, much to her surprise. "Okay," she waited until he slid into the passenger seat before handing him the remaining blood packets from the cooler. "There's not a lot left but if you need any more then just..." Her voice caught briefly, but she quickly plowed on, hoping that he hadn't noticed. "Then you can just have some of mine."

She started the car and pulled out of the parking lot, aware that Damon hadn't responded to her. She glanced over at him, but he was determinately looking out of his window- most likely to avoid her gaze. Elena sighed and was about to explain herself when he unexpectedly spoke, "I'll be fine." He gave her a tight smile, "I would never use you as a human blood bag, Elena. I'm not Klaus."

"I know," Elena took her eyes off the road briefly to squeeze his hand, "I know you're not him." She hesitated, "But I do think that Katherine has a point. Everything he's done for all these years, it's for his family. He's done everything out of love. And at the end of the day, that's what will be the key to ending all this."

He looked over at her skeptically, "Love?"

"Yes," she glanced back at him and their eyes met, "Klaus' love for his family, Stefan's love for you, and my love for..." Elena trailed off here, knowing she didn't need to finish the sentence for him to understand.

Damon held her gaze for another moment, his features relaxing into a smile before quoting, "_Omnia Vincit Amor_."

Elena nodded, murmuring the translation, "Love conquers all."

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><p><em>*a famous latin phrase, but personally inspired by season 2 of Haven (an awesome show, btw)! be sure to leave a review ;) xoxo<em>


	8. Hell Hath No Fury

**a/n: **TWO Buffy references this chapter! Have fun finding them aj81writing + anyone else who is as obsessed as we are ;)

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><p><em>Nobody knows me, I'm cold<em>  
><em>Walk down this road all alone<em>  
><em>It's no one's fault but my own<em>  
><em>It's the path I've chosen to go<br>-Spacebound _

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><p>"You finally decided to pick up one of my calls," Katherine snapped into the pay phone, barely restraining her annoyance. "Don't tell me you're too busy being on the run to talk to your favorite partner in crime?"<p>

"We aren't partners in crime," Stefan responded coldly, "What do you want, Katherine? I told you to only use this number in case of an emergency."

"And if I've been trying to reach you for two days, then _obviously _I have something important to say," Katherine retorted, pausing when she heard raucous laughter from the other end of the line. She pursed her lips, "I thought you were supposed to be keeping a low profile, Stefan. Where are you, anyway?"

"Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answer to," Stefan said cryptically, although she could sense a trace of humor in his tone. "I thought you said you had something important to tell me?"

Katherine blew out a breath of air, but decided against lecturing him further. "Your brother and Elena..."

Stefan immediately became more alert, and the sounds from the other end of the line died down into silence. She guessed that he had moved into a quieter area. "What about them? Are they safe? Did something happen?"

"The bartender that I Compelled told me that the two of them stopped by the bar, asking questions about where I was headed," Katherine waited, but Stefan didn't respond to this. "Then Klaus showed up."

"Klaus won't hurt them. I know him."

"Actually, you don't," Katherine scowled, "A few months trekking around the world and pretending to be someone's friend doesn't make you an expert on them. And to prove my point; he's holding Tyler hostage until your brother hands over the coffins...and probably you, as well."

"He's _what_?"

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><p>Caroline slammed her glass back down on the table, "What do you mean you LOST Tyler?"<p>

Elena shifted uncomfortably, "Well, you know, _lost _is such a harsh word…"

"Yet entirely accurate," Damon decided to say, ignoring Elena's glare. "What? We lost him to Klaus—wouldn't you rather Blondie knows the facts instead of sugarcoating it?"

Caroline's head shot up and she narrowed her eyes at Damon, "Yeah, I can just tell that you're all torn up about it."

"Hey, it's not like I _offered _him up to Klaus or anything—"

"Yeah, I bet you tried real hard to stop him, though," she muttered under her breath.

Damon stopped and turned towards her, "What was that?"

"Okay, guys, can we just focus?" Alaric interjected, looking in between Caroline and Damon warily. "We're all here to figure out a _plan_, remember?"

Caroline stood up abruptly, "You heard me, _Damon_." She strode across the room and poked him hard in the chest, "How much did you really try to stop Klaus?"

"Well, there was the small matter of me bleeding to death on the ground," Damon grabbed the finger she was pointing at him and growled, "_Don't _do that again."

"Why not?" she shoved him, "Afraid I'll beat you up again?"

Damon grinned, breaking out in a playful fighting stance. "I'm always up for a good girl fight," he dodged her first strike, "And don't be fooled into thinking that you're going to beat me this time."

Caroline blurred forward, slamming them both into the fireplace, "Oh yeah? Why not?"

He grabbed her arm and twisted them around so that she let out an involuntary yelp of pain, "Because you were angry, then," he said evenly, "But don't believe for a second that you're stronger than me."

With a burst of strength, she loosened his grasp and whirled around so that they were facing each other. "And I'm angry now," she hissed, pushing against him forcefully so that they both fell onto the ground, "Or did you forget?"

"No," he struggled for a second before overpowering her and slamming her onto the ground beneath him. He was breathing hard, but triumph glinted in his eyes. "Anger is a human emotion," he hissed back, "It burns and consumes until there's nothing left." He watched as she fought against him fruitlessly for a few moments until, with a groan, she stopped. Damon carefully lifted himself off her and stood back up before quoting nonsensically, "And here endeth the lesson."

Alaric cleared his throat into the resulting silence, "Er, are you guys done yet? Because time is of the essence is here..."

"I don't know," Damon looked over at Caroline as she stood up and brushed herself off, "Have you worked off all that _misdirected _pent-up aggression?"

"I don't know," she shot back with equal vigor, "Are you ready to stop acting like an ass?"

"Okay," Elena said loudly, stepping in between Damon and Caroline. "Look, I get it. We're all upset about Tyler...but arguing about whose fault it is that Klaus has him isn't going to get us anywhere. If it makes you feel better, then I think Tyler really was right in saying that Klaus won't hurt him. Not if we manage to get him what he wants."

"Fine, fine," Caroline walked over to the table where Bonnie was waiting impatiently, "Okay, what do we have so far?"

"We have this," Bonnie unnecessarily pointed to Katherine's letter that was lying in the middle of the table. "I think that we have to look at this in four ways."

"What do you mean?"

Bonnie reached over and snagged a few sheets of paper before huddling over them, writing something with a thick, black marker. She then held up the first paper, across which she had written in large letters, 'KATHERINE.'

"Okay," Damon said slowly as Bonnie placed the paper above Katherine's note, then proceeded to hold up the next paper, which read, 'ORIGINAL FAMILY.' This was placed at the below the note. The next two papers, labelled 'STEFAN' and 'KLAUS + TYLER,' respectively, were placed on either side of the note.

"North, South, East, West?" Alaric guessed, pointing out the directions that Bonnie had laid out the papers. "You think these four things lie in four different directions?"

"No," Bonnie shook her head, "It's a circle, see? You start with one of these, and it'll eventually lead you all the way around—it's all a single path."

"Not a continuous one," Damon disagreed, but he looked thoughtful. "Where would you start?"

Elena tapped one of the pieces of paper, "Start with Katherine, where else?"

"Okay, so," Caroline pulled her hair into a ponytail before leaning over the table, all grievances forgotten as she began to strategize. "First, we find Katherine..."

"Using this note that she so very kindly wrote in her own handwriting," Bonnie said with a grin, "It'll make the location spell pretty easy to do."

"Then," Elena continued around the circle, "She can lead us to Stefan. Or at least give us some clues about where he's headed."

"Once we contain him," Damon took over the narrative and pointed to the next paper in the circle, "He can lead us to the coffins."

"Which will finally get Klaus off our backs," Caroline picked up the fourth piece of paper and stared at what was written on it for a moment before adding, "Then we can get Tyler back."

Elena gave Caroline a small smile before turning back to Bonnie, "Okay, so how does this location spell work?"

"The note will be able to give me a picture of where she is," Bonnie explained, "I can describe it to you guys and we can try to figure out where it is."

"Like, you want us to sketch a picture of what you see in your mind?" Caroline frowned, "That seems kind of iffy, Bonnie."

"It's the best we've got," Alaric hesitated, "You know, Jeremy is pretty good at drawing...I've seen some of his artwork."

"Yeah, I know," Bonnie rolled her eyes when she saw everyone looking at her pointedly. "Alright, alright, I get the hint." She climbed off her chair and collected everything she would need for the spell. "I have to go back to my house for some of the other ingredients, anyway. I'll just tell Jeremy to meet me there."

Damon followed Bonnie to the door, stopping her in the hallway where they were out of earshot of the others. "Hey," he said in a low voice, "Just so you know, Klaus has the hourglass pendant that you told me to give Elena."

Bonnie glanced up at him, "Good. All twelve diamonds still in there?"

"Yes," he lowered his voice even further, "Will you be able to use it to find Klaus?"

"I hope so," she looked down at Katherine's note before shaking herself out of his grip, "But first things first. We find Katherine."

Damon didn't reply, but merely opened the door for her, "Good luck."

Bonnie raised an eyebrow at him before glancing towards the basement door, "You too. You know what you have to do."

He kept his expression impassive as he locked the door behind her and then turned around to see Elena standing at the end of the hallway. "What was that all about?"

"What?"

Elena walked towards him, crossing her arms. "The secret conversation...Is there anything I should know about?"

Damon leaned against the wall, mimicking her stance. "Bonnie was just reminding me that there's something I have to do. Something that I don't particularly _want _to do...but it has to be done."

Caroline stepped into the hallway at that moment, with Alaric right behind her. "Well, don't stop talking on my account," she stared at him challengingly, "Or is this just yet _another _plan that I'm not part of?"

"Oh trust me, Barbie," Damon matched her tone, "You're very much a part of this plan." He looked over at Alaric before continuing, "Elena and I will go find Katherine, whenever Bonnie figures out where she is. Then we'll go track down Stefan, who will probably do everything he can to stop us from finding out where he hid Klaus' family. At any rate, Ric and Bonnie can follow up on that lead and try to find the location of the coffins."

"Wait, so what am I supposed to do?" Caroline frowned, "I thought I was going to help you guys find Stefan."

The corner of Damon's mouth quirked up in amusement, "No, you'll be spying on Klaus and Tyler."

"_What_?" Elena interjected incredulously, "You're sending her out to Klaus by herself? Damon, that's ridiculous. There's no way that..._oh_."

"Oh? _Oh _what?" Caroline threw out her arms dramatically, "What do you people all know that you're not telling me?" She caught Damon's eye then, and suddenly realized what he was thinking. "Oh no," she said in a warning voice as she took a step back, "There's no way in hell that you're siccing me off with that bitch."

Damon heaved a sigh, "We need Rebekah for this, Caroline. Maybe Klaus will be a little more appeased if he has his sister back with him and then he'll give us more time..." When Caroline only glared, he immediately changed tactics. "Oh come on," he wheedled, "Don't you want to help Tyler out?"

"You know what? _Fine_. It's not like I get a say around here anyway," Caroline huffed before spinning on her heel and stalking back into the living room. "Hope that bitch isn't angry when she wakes up from, you know, being _stabbed in the back_."

Elena flinched.

Alaric looked from Damon to Elena, before looking back to Damon again. "Are you sure about this?"

"Waking her up now and getting her back on our side will be better than waiting around for Klaus to show up in Mystic Falls and finding her like that." Damon opened the basement door, "You know I'm right, Ric."

Elena threw an apologetic look in Alaric's direction before hurriedly following Damon down the stairs into the basement. When he turned around to look at her, she held up a hand to ward off his protests. "I know you're going to say that it isn't safe for me to be down here...but I _need _to do this, Damon. I'm the one that staked her...I should be the one to..."

"Bring her back to life?" Damon hesitated, examining the determined expression on Elena's face. "Fine," he conceded after a moment, "You can do the honors. But no way in hell am I leaving you down here alone."

"Okay," Elena agreed instantly, "That's fair."

"Look at us," Damon said with a grin as he unlocked the cell door and waved her in, "Being all compromising and mature."

"We've definitely come a long way," Elena eyed Rebekah's unconscious form before kneeling down next to her and taking a deep breath, "I've come a long way."

Damon hovered above her, "You can do this, Elena."

She looked up at him once before nodding and wrapping her hands around the dagger. Digging her heels into the ground, she slowly pulled it out, watching Rebekah's face for any signs of life. When there were none, she sat back and let out a breath of air that she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "It'll probably take a while."

Elena turned around to see Damon walk back into the cell, carrying some blood bags from the freezer. "Doesn't hurt to be prepared," he said, carefully placing the bags next to Rebekah before sliding down onto the ground next to Elena. He glanced at her, picking up on the nervousness in her eyes. "Hey," he said in a softer tone, reaching over to squeeze her hand gently, "It'll be okay. You did what you had to do. We just have to make Rebekah understand that."

She closed her eyes and drew her knees up to her chest, "You know she won't understand. She'll probably never trust any of us again."

Damon wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer before admitting, "I know. But you've always been very good at persuading people to trust you."

Elena glanced up at him and let her lips curve into a small smile, "Thank you for staying down here with me."

Damon didn't move a muscle as Elena shifted slightly to rest her head against his shoulder. Then he tightened his arm around her, and brushed his lips against her forehead. "Don't worry about it. I won't let anything happen to you," he said quietly before glancing back at Rebekah. "Hell hath no fury like a Barbie Klaus daggered."

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><p><em>*yup, next chapter we'll see the return of Rebekah! also, just to let you guys know- final exams week is coming up at school so updates won't be as frequent. I'll do my best though! xoxo<em>


	9. Leap of Faith

**A/N: **wow, huge kudos to _lilmissgurl4eva _who had such a thorough answer to the Buffy trivia question! haha i actually had no idea that one of the references had appeared in three BtVS episodes! in any case, this was her answer: 1) "It burns and consumes until there's nothing left." [Spike and Buffy in 'Seeing Red'] & 2) "And here endeth the lesson." [Spike in 'Fool For Love', Buffy in 'Showtime,' and The Master in 'Never Kill A Boy On The First Date']. As always, thank you all for your lovely reviews! Enjoy!

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><p>Alaric took a sip of beer thoughtfully, placing the bottle back down on the coffee table in front of him before examining one of the hieroglyphics. He muttered something to himself and rearranged some of the photos on the table, trying to make sense of it. When he reached over to pick up the beer again, he happened to glance up and see Caroline staring at him accusingly from across the living room. She pointed to the pictures once she had caught his eye, "Is that all you <em>do<em>?"

"I'm not sure what you mean," Alaric tossed his folder onto the table and leaned back into his armchair, raising his eyebrow at Caroline questioningly. "Is there any particular reason you're jumping down everyone's throats today?"

Caroline crossed then uncrossed her arms, looking agitated. Then she huffed and rolled her eyes before muttering out an apology, "I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean it that way. I'm just…" She trailed off before leaning forward and lowering her voice, "Do you really think that bringing Rebekah back is a good idea? She's just going to stab us in the back—no pun intended...and then we're going to have two enemies working against us instead of just Klaus, who's bad enough, really—"

"You're rambling," Alaric cut her off, not unkindly. "To be fair, Damon provided some pretty sound reasoning for bringing Rebekah back. That whole, 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' thing? I think it might actually work in this case."

"I think Klaus has made it clear how much family means to him," Caroline shook her head, unconvinced. "I'm just saying, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

Alaric, who had been looking at the photos again, mumbled distractedly, "Which apple?"

"I just don't think it's a good idea," she said pointedly, "You're just going along with it because it's _Damon_ and everyone is always too damn scared to stand up to him!"

"That's not entirely true," Alaric corrected her, now fully paying attention. "And you know Elena would never have gone along with it if she thought it was a bad idea."

"_Elena_, yeah right," Caroline scoffed, "They probably secretly came up with the plan together on one of their little sleepovers." A second later, when she realized what she had said, she instantly clapped both hands over her mouth, "Oops."

Alaric began choking on his beer, "_Excuse me_?"

"No, I didn't mean that!" Caroline said hurriedly, "It's not...they're not..." She scrunched up her face in frustration, "I didn't mean they were sleeping together!"

"What did you mean, then?" Alaric demanded, standing up and marching across the room so that he was face-to-face with Caroline. "Has Elena been sneaking out of the house at night?"

"No," she answered meekly, "But, um, see..."

"So, Damon has been sleeping in Elena's room?" Alaric's eyes flashed, "I warned him to take a beat from Elena, and _this _is what he does?"

"Take a _what?" _Caroline frowned, confused. "Okay, I'm not sure what that means, but whatever. Look, I get that you're trying to be a good, like, _parental _figure to Elena and Jeremy. Trust me, I get it. But I don't think you can _control _what Damon does, or doesn't do, if you know what I mean."

Alaric stared at her blankly.

"It was just like one time, anyway," Caroline went on in a reassuring tone, "Except for that hotel room the other night, but I don't think—"

"_What_?"

Caroline winced again, "Oops." She hesitated, "Elena said it was all innocent. I mean, there was only one vacancy in the hotel, so..."

"How convenient."

She took a deep breath, breaking into a small smile to relieve some of the tension in the room. "I don't think you have anything to worry about, Mr. Saltzman," she reached over and squeezed his forearm gently, "You're doing a good job taking care of them. Elena even told me how much she appreciates you being around. In fact, sometimes, I wish that my dad..." Caroline trailed off wistfully, "I wish my dad was as understanding as you were of this whole vampire thing." Then she shrugged, trying to brush off the heavy mood, "But he's still my dad, you know? I still love him."

"I know," Alaric said quietly. He began to say something else, when they both heard a strangled scream from the basement. He looked towards the door in alarm, "What was that?"

"My guess?" Caroline sighed moodily, "That little blood slut just woke up."

.

"Now, just calm down," Damon cautioned, stepping in between Elena and Rebekah, "There's a perfectly good explanation for all this."

"Oh, _really_?" Rebekah shouted, throwing a blood bag back onto the ground with so much force that it exploded, showering them all with blood. Elena gasped, instinctively throwing her hands in front of her face.

Damon whirled around and blurred to stand closer to her, shielding her from most of the resulting splatter. Elena looked up at him as he towered above her, their faces inches apart. In the ensuing silence, a single drop of blood fell from the ceiling, landing squarely on her upper lip. To her credit, she didn't react in any way except for an involuntary shiver. Damon's gaze dropped to her lips—then, before she could process what was happening, he closed the distance between them and flicked his tongue against her upper lip to sweep up the droplet of blood.

Proceeding to act as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened, he turned back to face Rebekah sternly, "Now, that wasn't very nice."

"_Nice__?" _she screeched at him, pointing from herself to the dagger lying on the floor, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"

"I told you there was an explanation—"

"_Not_. _You_." With an enraged snarl, she strode forward and shoved Damon away like a rag doll. The force of it sent him sprawling across the jail cell into the opposite wall.

He groaned as he slumped down onto the ground, muttering under his breath, "Cue the theatrics."

Rebekah sent him a glare before spinning on her heel to hiss at Elena, "_You_ did this to me. _WHY? _I was helping you! I did everything you asked! I..." She broke off, her fists clenching into the silky material of the red dress she was still wearing. "You've ruined my Homecoming dress! You ruined everything!"

Elena swallowed, taking a step back to put some distance between the two of them. "I know," she said in a wavering voice, "And I'm sorry. I _had _to do it...we couldn't take any chances!"

"Oh, you _had _to, did you?" Rebekah mocked her, taking a step forward, her eyes glinting with fury. "And did you succeed? Is Klaus dead?"

Damon coughed, "Yeah, about that..." Rebekah placed her hands on her hips, watching as he stood back up and subtly positioned himself next to Elena again. "Through some _very _unfortunate and completely unforeseeable series of events...Mikael is the one who got killed that night; by Klaus, if that makes you feel better."

A myriad of emotions flew across Rebekah's face, the most prominent amongst them rage. "Why," she punctuated angrily, "Would that make me feel better?"

"Because _we_," he gestured to himself and Elena, "Didn't have anything to do with it. The only person you should be blaming is, ironically enough, Stefan."

For the first time since she had woken up, Rebekah seemed momentarily concerned. "Stefan? What happened? Is he alright?"

"Well, well," a look of satisfaction crossed Damon's expression, "Seems like someone still cares, after all."

"Don't toy with me, Damon," Rebekah warned, "I could kill the both of you right now before you even had time to blink."

"But you won't," he countered, though at the same time casually stepping to the left so that he was standing in front of Elena, "Because you're curious." Damon raised an eyebrow at her when she didn't contradict his statement. "Believe me, you're going to _want _to hear this story."

.

"Well, at least she hasn't killed anyone yet," Alaric offered as they all sat in the living room, waiting for Rebekah to finish showering and join them. "That's a good sign."

"Says who?"

Damon glanced over at Caroline, annoyed. "If I have to hear any more of your negativity today, Blondie—"

"No fighting," Elena interrupted tiredly, "I'm sick of hearing the two of you go at it. We all need to stand together on this. We're lucky that Rebekah even took the time to hear us out. Let's not give her a reason to change her mind."

"Wise words for a mere human," Rebekah commented idly, choosing that moment to descend the stairs. "I hope you don't mind," she added carelessly as she finished buttoning up a shirt that ended at her mid-thigh, "But I decided to borrow one of Stefan's shirts."

"As long as it's not one of mine," Damon quipped, bustling around with some bottles before expertly pouring amber liquid into a glass. "Drink?" he held it out to her, which she snagged immediately. She sat down across from Caroline, and the two of them shared a mutually unfriendly look. "Wow," Damon remarked, smirking to himself as he sat down next to Elena, "How much do I have to pay to see_ that_ cat fight?"

"_Damon_," Elena chastised, half heartedly smacking his arm, "Behave." She turned to smile uncertainly at Rebekah, "How are you feeling?"

"Like I was recently robbed of being Homecoming Queen," Rebekah responded tightly through gritted teeth, "And you?"

Elena heaved a sigh, looking over at Damon. He glanced at her expression before reluctantly taking over. "What Elena _means_ to say is, how do you feel about everything we told you about Klaus and Stefan and Katherine? Do you believe us?"

Rebekah tossed her hair over her shoulder, the disdainful expression on her face not changing. "Not that I have _any _reason to trust you lot after what you've done..."

"But?" Elena prodded hopefully, "You do?"

"Let's just say that I believe your version of events, for the sole reason that I don't think you would've brought me back unless you had no choice," Rebekah finished, crossing her arms, "Am I right?"

"Honest, I like that," Damon relaxed, "And yes, I guess you would be right to assume that."

"I thought as much," Rebekah fiddled with her drink for a moment before looking back up, "So, father is really dead? Klaus really killed him?"

"Yes," Damon hesitated, "And for what it's worth, I'm sorry."

"Your word doesn't mean much to me," was all she said in response before turning to look at Caroline, "So, he has Tyler?"

Caroline nodded curtly, "So, the plan is that I deliver you to Klaus...and we both stick around to make sure that he doesn't hurt Tyler while everyone else tries to track down Stefan."

"Fine," Rebekah said, surprising everyone sitting around her. "I'll agree to your little plan, on one condition."

"Which is?"

"When you people figure out a way to kill Klaus—and you _better _find a way—then, I get to be the one who actually kills him. Understood?"

Elena and Damon exchanged glances, while Caroline shot them a warning look. Before anyone could say anything, Elena leaned over and held out her hand to Rebekah, "We accept your terms."

"What?" Caroline sputtered, "But—"

"Great," Rebekah cut her off, "It's a deal, then." She stood up and looked expectantly around the room, "So, how do we get in touch with Klaus? You said he left me voicemails on my phone?"

"Your phone is upstairs," Elena stood up, "I'll go get it." She hurried up the stairs, ignoring the looks that both Caroline and Alaric were giving her. It was clear that they didn't agree with her rashly making a deal with Rebekah. Although Elena understood their concern, she also understood Rebekah's need to get revenge on someone who had now killed _both _of her parents. She knelt at the foot of Damon's bed, pulling out the key to the small cabinet that stood in the corner. After locating it, she stood back up, only to jump violently when she saw Damon standing behind her. "Don't sneak up on people like that!" she exclaimed, skirting him by a foot to get to the cabinet, "What's wrong? Does Rebekah want something else?"

"No," Damon watched as Elena found the phone and locked the cabinet again. "I came up here to talk to you about that deal you just made. You know, the one where you didn't _consult _any of us before striking an agreement with Rebekah...what were you thinking, Elena?"

Elena finished hiding the key and then stood back up to face him. "I was thinking," she began carefully, "That we needed to do something to get her to trust us again. If that means taking a leap of faith, then so be it."

Damon shook his head, "That's a pretty damn big _leap of faith_ that you're taking, Elena."

Distantly, they both heard the front door bell ring, and then Bonnie's voice as someone opened the door for her. "We should get back downstairs and see what Bonnie found," Elena muttered, attempting to go around Damon. She sucked in a startled breath as he grabbed her arm to stop her. "Let go of me," she jerked her arm out of his grip, "Damon—"

"_Elena_," he matched her tone, equal parts annoyance and indignation. He let her go, but gently grasped her shoulders to stop her from walking away. "You know I'm just trying to protect you."

She closed her eyes briefly, "I know. But you have to start trusting me, too. Sometimes I have to make the tough decisions; the ones that no one will agree with." She slowly opened her eyes then to see an unidentifiable emotion flickering in his gaze. Almost against her will, she felt her own gaze drop to his lips, and the very real memory of his tongue sliding against her lip, licking away that stray drop of blood...

Heat flared between them.

"Elena," he said again, this time in an entirely different tone. She looked up at him then, and he completely lost his train of thought. "I..." his voice broke as she took a step closer to him, their bodies brushing together tantalizingly. His head instinctively lowered as she curved against him, her arms moving to snake around his neck and bring him even closer. His hands slid to her waist, their breaths mingling as they stood mere inches apart.

Then Elena deliberately lifted her gaze, their eyes meeting for one heart-stopping instant before her lips were on his, her fingers tangling in his hair. She gasped out loud when he responded with fervor, kissing her back with all the intensity that she felt sparking between them. And it was only a full minute later that he suddenly remembered what he had been about to say. He pulled back briefly, but only to murmur against her lips, "I already trust you."

* * *

><p><em>*i actually hadn't planned on that happening till next chapter, but sometimes you just can't control your characters ;) <em>


	10. Drop in the Ocean

**A/N****: **you'll all be happy to know that my final exams are finally OVER! now that I'm on winter break, I'll definitely be updating this fic a lot more frequently. thank you all for your wonderful reviews last chapter (totally didn't mean to leave you hanging with that cliffhanger D/E kiss!) Also, on another note, I've started a special holiday-themed Damon/Elena one-shot series for the author-to-author gift exchange. Be sure to check it out!

* * *

><p><em> I was praying that you and me <em>  
><em>Might end up together<em>  
><em>It's like wishing for rain <em>  
><em>As I stand in the desert<em>

* * *

><p>Tyler took a swig of his beer, keeping his head down as he tried to listen to what Klaus was saying to the bartender. She was young, with long dark hair that fell across her eyes. He glanced up briefly, noting the somber look in her gaze as she spoke to Klaus. Finally, after a few more minutes, Klaus walked back over to Tyler. "Maya has agreed to help us," he announced, a pleased smile spreading across his face. "Now, why don't you keep her occupied while I get rid of all these other people?"<p>

"Wait," Tyler frowned, swiveling around on his bar stool and lowering his voice, "Who is she?"

"Her aunt was a friend of mine," Klaus answered simply, "She owned this bar." His expression grew stern, "And that's enough with the questions. Do as I've asked, or I won't find a use for you any longer."

"Yes, sir," Tyler muttered sarcastically under his breath as he strode casually down the length of the bar to join Maya at the other end. "Hey," he began awkwardly as he introduced himself, "I'm Tyler."

"Okay," Maya didn't look up at him as she wiped down the counter, her voice quiet and subdued. "It's nice to meet you."

"So, Klaus tells me that he knew your aunt," Tyler ventured, and Maya immediately looked up at him, her gaze cautious and probing.

"You're like him, right?" she chewed on her lip nervously, "A hybrid?"

"Yeah…he's my…" Tyler coughed, "You know, sire."

Maya nodded, her eyes flickering with slight understanding. "So you have to do what he says," she surmised, "Trust me, I get that." She looked over his shoulder, watching as Klaus made his way around the bar and Compelled people to leave. "I didn't want to come to Chicago," she said distantly to Tyler, "But this bar has been in my family for generations, so when Aunt Gloria died…I had no choice."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Tyler hesitated, "Um, so are you also—"

"A witch? Yeah, I am," she swept her hair out of her eyes, and Tyler's gaze alighted on a small tattoo on the inside of her wrist. "Not a very good one, mind you," she added with a small smile, "For a long time, I tried to pretend like this part of my life didn't exist." She sighed, "I guess you can't run from your destiny forever, right?"

Tyler nodded slowly, thinking back to how he had fought so hard against becoming a werewolf. "I know exactly what you mean."

"Alright, kids," Klaus joined them at the bar, pulling a chain out of his pocket and placing it on the counter. "I need you to show me what the owner of this necklace is doing at this very moment."

Maya picked up the chain, examining the hourglass pendant curiously. "Alright," she agreed, "I think I can make that happen." She disappeared behind the bar for a few minutes, and returned with a pitcher of water and a large silver bowl. "Pour the water into the bowl," she ordered Klaus, who complied as she closed her eyes and began chanting the words to a spell.

She then raised her hands over the silver bowl, murmuring a few phrases before picking up the chain and dipping the pendant into the water. There were a few ripples, all with a golden edged hue. Then, an image shimmered into view. Tyler and Klaus both leaned over to look into the bowl, and Tyler's mouth dropped open when he realized what he was looking at. "What the hell?" he sputtered, "What's Elena doing?"

"Well, well," Klaus smirked, "Elena doesn't look very concerned with the search for Stefan now, does she?"

* * *

><p>"Elena," Damon mumbled as she deepened the kiss, "Wait, wait..." He pulled back, breathing hard as he took in her aroused expression. He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to clear the haze that had settled over his mind. "Elena—"<p>

"What's going on up here?" Alaric's sharp voice cut across the room, and they both turned to see him standing at the doorway, looking suspicious. "We're all waiting for you guys," he said pointedly when neither of them spoke, "Is something wrong?"

"No," Elena said quickly, her hair flying around her shoulders as she shook her head firmly, "Nothing's wrong. We were just about to come downstairs."

"You look a little..." Alaric studied her face with a frown, trying to figure out what was going on. "Are you sure everything's alright?"

"Everything's fine, Ric," Damon answered forcefully, "Look, we found Rebekah's phone and everything." He handed Alaric the cell phone and then slipped out of the room, nearly sprinting down the stairs in his desire to leave before he said (or did) something that he would later regret.

"There you are," Bonnie snapped when he joined them in the living room. She shoved a piece of paper at him, "Look at what my spell revealed."

Damon looked down at the sketch that Jeremy had drawn, his eyes widening in surprise. "Wait, isn't that..." He looked over at Caroline, who was sitting in the corner of the sofa, looking downcast. "Your father."

She nodded bleakly, her usual sparkle and exuberance all but a shadow. "Why do you think Katherine is with my dad?" she questioned hoarsely, "What could she possibly want with him?"

"What?" Elena returned with Alaric at that moment, and she snatched the paper out of Damon's hands in shock. "Katherine's with your dad?" she frowned, "And this is his house, isn't it?"

"It looks like she's using him for information," Jeremy put in hesitantly, one hand unconsciously rubbing his neck. "Isn't that what she does?"

Damon stared at Jeremy, who realized what he was doing after a second and immediately dropped his arm back to his side. "Is that where Katherine bit you?" Damon blurred forward and roughly pushed Jeremy's head to the side so he could examine his neck. "When did she bite you?"

"When I went to go pick her up from Mikael's tomb," he muttered back unwillingly, "She needed blood, remember?"

"Right," Damon let go of Jeremy and then turned back to Caroline. "I think Gilbert has a point. Katherine must be using your father for something. I don't see why else she would seek out a human, I mean he's only..."

Caroline's head shot up, "A human who can resist Compulsion! Do you think Katherine is trying to learn how to train herself to be immune to Klaus' Compulsion?"

"Or any Original," Rebekah pointed out, peering over Elena's shoulder so that she could look at the picture. "So that human has found a way to resist be Compelled? How did he do it?"

"I don't know," Caroline said in frustration, "But we're wasting time just sitting here! What if he teaches her how to do it, and then she realizes she doesn't have a use for him anymore? She'll just kill him like she kills everyone else, and—"

"Hey," Elena quickly ran over and enveloped her friend in a hug, "Don't worry about it. We'll find your dad before it's too late, I promise. Okay?"

"And in the meantime," Rebekah took her phone from Alaric and pressed in Klaus' number. "Let's find out where dear brother is, shall we?"

Everyone instantly quieted, watching with some trepidation as Rebekah raised the phone to her ear. After a second, her lips curved upwards into a smile. "Nick," she drew out sweetly, "Yes, it's me." She paused, "Yes, I happened to have misplaced my phone." After another minute, annoyance flitted over her face. "Well, no one else has your number, do they? I heard what happened...well, to be perfectly honest, I had no idea where I might find you. And I was rightly pissed off with Stefan...yes, yes, I know. I'll be there as soon as I can." There was another pause, this one longer than the last. "Yes, they told me about Tyler. I'm sure you're taking good care of him, brother." She smirked then, "You do know I'm rather fond of the boy."

"Well?" Bonnie demanded when Rebekah had hung up the phone, "Did he tell you where he was?"

"He did," Rebekah said delicately, "Back to Chicago it is, then."

* * *

><p>"You've been awfully quiet," Damon commented as he pulled on to the highway an hour later, "Everything alright?"<p>

"Everything's fine," Elena turned away from him to look out the window, "I'm just worried about Caroline's dad. I hope Katherine isn't hurting him."

"After what he did?" Damon asked evenly, "I wouldn't mind if she roughed him up a bit."

Elena looked at him sharply, "He's only human, Damon. And he's Caroline's _father_. She would be devastated if anything happened to him."

"Just like he was devastated when he was in the midst of torturing her?" Damon retorted, "The guy doesn't deserve to live, Elena."

"That's not for us to decide," she responded tightly, "You don't get to play judge and jury."

"Of course not," he kept his eyes on the road, "Just executioner."

"Not funny, Damon."

"I wasn't trying to be, _Elena_." He shook his head when she crossed her arms and looked away again, "What's with you? And don't tell me it's nothing, because I know you...and I know it's something."

"I _told_ you, I'm just worried about what Katherine is up to!"

"And I told you that I don't believe you!" Damon raised his voice, anger seeping into his tone. "What's this really about? The fact that we kissed? Stefan?"

Elena covered her face with her hands, "No! God, everything isn't about Stefan!"

"We kissed," Damon repeated, "Do you regret it?"

"No," her voice was quieter this time, "That's something I did right, I know it was."

"Then what, Elena? What is it?"

She swallowed, turning to look at him. "It's the first time that I admitted to myself that it was time to move on with my life," she voiced reluctantly, "It's the first time I allowed myself to make a choice."

"And that scares you?"

"Not because I'm afraid that I made the wrong choice," she said slowly, "It's just scary not knowing...what the future is like."

"Well at least you know that you won't be facing it alone," Damon glanced at her, meeting her gaze, "You'll always have me."

"I know," Elena said softly, reaching over and taking his hand, "And you'll always have me."

.

Exactly 2 hours later, Damon was pulling into Bill Forbes' driveway. "I don't hear anything," he remarked as they walked up the porch steps, "But that doesn't mean anything." With a shrug, he knocked loudly on the door. "Oh Katherine, darling, I know you're in there. Open up!"

He had hardly finished the sentence when the door flew open.

And there stood Katherine Pierce.

"So," she drawled, "I see you've found me."


	11. Small World

_a/n: thank you to everyone who has continued to read and review! I'll definitely aim to have it finished before new episodes return (which is not too far away now!) Enjoy ;) _

* * *

><p>"Are you sure you're still up for this?" Bonnie asked, watching as Caroline finished stuffing her duffel bag and lugged it out of her room. "I know this isn't something you exactly wanted to do in the first place…and now with the news of your dad and Katherine…"<p>

"I'd rather be doing something than sitting around and doing nothing," Caroline tossed the duffel bag off the top of the stairs and then blurred to the other end to catch it, ignoring Bonnie as she rolled her eyes. "What?" she let a small smile cross her lips, "I didn't feel like carrying it downstairs."

"Hey," Jeremy came out of her living room and nodded towards the driveway, "I think Rebekah just got here."

"Yup," Caroline peered out the window in mock excitement, "There she is. My arch nemesis."

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to," Jeremy followed her outside onto the porch, with Bonnie on his heels. "One of us can go instead."

"No," Caroline sighed, "As I much as I hate to admit it, this has to be me. I'm no match for her strength, but I don't want her to be able to take advantage of you guys." She gave Bonnie a one-armed hug and then squeezed Jeremy's shoulder, "I'll be fine. Trust me." She glanced over to where Rebekah was waiting impatiently and smiled halfheartedly, "Besides, I've always wanted to go to Chicago."

"Well, be careful," Bonnie said worriedly as Caroline loaded her luggage into the trunk and then climbed into the passenger seat, "Call us if _anything_ happens. From what Elena and Damon said, Klaus is pretty pissed off right now. He'll be looking for someone to take his anger out on."

"I can handle my brother," Rebekah rolled down her window to glare at Jeremy and Bonnie, "Just make sure you lot find Stefan and those coffins."

"And let me know when you hear anything about my dad," Caroline called as the car pulled out of the driveway, "See you guys soon!"

Jeremy watched the car disappear down the street before he turned hesitantly towards Bonnie, "Looks like it's just you and me now."

She shrugged, shifting her bag on her shoulder as she made her way down the porch steps and to her car. "Where did Alaric go?"

"He's gotten obsessed with trying to figure out what those remaining hieroglyphic pictures from the cave are about," Jeremy grinned at her, but it faded away when she didn't smile back. "Bonnie, look, I know I screwed up. I get that." He paused, "But if you need help with anything...I just hate sitting back and doing nothing while something this big is going down, you know?"

Bonnie considered his words for a second before heaving a sigh. She then fumbled with the contents of her bag for a second and pulled out a long chain. In the sunlight, the diamonds in the hourglass pendant glinted brightly. "Have you seen this before?"

"Whoa," Jeremy breathed, holding the pendant against the palm of his hand, "What is that?"

"It's for the _gemini _spell," Bonnie explained, a hint of pride in her tone. "Damon and I thought of it—"

"You and Damon?" Jeremy interrupted incredulously, "Working together on something? And actually agreeing on it?"

"Yes, hell has apparently frozen over," she allowed him a small smile, before her expression became serious once more. "There's another necklace, one that looks identical to this one."

"_Gemini_," Jeremy mused, "Latin for twins, right? So you made two necklaces that look exactly the same? Where's the other one?"

"I told Damon to give it to Elena."

"Really? I haven't seen her wear it...are you sure he gave it to her?"

Bonnie nodded, "Klaus has it now. I know he'll be using it to track her, to see what we're all up to. That is, if he's able to find himself another witch."

"That shouldn't be a problem for him," Jeremy frowned, "What's the point of the spell?"

"There are twelve diamonds in the hourglass," Bonnie held it up further so they could both look into it, "When Klaus uses a location spell on Elena's necklace, I'll be able to use the _gemini _powers of the chains to see exactly what he's up to as well. Each time he does a spell, one of the diamonds will turn..."

"Red?" Jeremy guessed, as they both caught sight of the one red diamond at the same time. "Does that mean he's already checked up on Elena?"

"I guess it does," Bonnie smiled grimly, "Now, it's time for us to see what Klaus is up to."

* * *

><p>"Invite us in," Damon ordered, growing frustrated when Katherine only continued to smirk at them. "Either you invite me in right now, or I'll—"<p>

Elena gasped out loud as two vervain darts came flying out of nowhere and hit Damon squarely in the chest. "What the hell?" she caught him as he staggered backwards and fell unconscious. She looked up at Katherine in anger, "What have you done?"

"Actually, that was me," Bill Forbes stepped out from behind Katherine, looking less than pleased. "What are you doing here, Elena?" He peered around her to look in his driveway, "Is my daughter with you?"

"No, Caroline is...busy," Elena shot a significant look in Katherine's direction, "Damon and I decided to come instead."

"Why?"

"Because we thought you were in trouble!" Elena exclaimed, beginning to grow annoyed. "We saw that Katherine was here and we were afraid that she was...you know."

Katherine placed one hand on her hip as rolled her eyes, "Please. Why would I kill the only human known to have developed a way to resist Compulsion?"

"Oh, I don't know," Elena snapped as she was forced to lower to her knees, unable to support Damon's weight any longer. "Maybe because you take pleasure in going around and ruining lives just for your own amusement?"

"Play nice now, Elena," Katherine said warningly, "You don't know the lengths I've gone to in order to save your precious Salvatores."

"I know what you've done," she hissed back, "And I know perfectly well that you didn't do any of it for me, or for them. It was for yourself, just like everything inevitably turns out to be."

"Whatever it is that you think you know, you're wrong."

"I doubt it."

"Then you don't know the whole story," Katherine said evenly, "Not unless you've found Stefan, which, by the looks of things, you haven't."

"Only because you somehow made him into your little puppet!" Elena clenched her fists to her sides, "I don't know how you convinced him to steal those damned coffins, but—"

"Oh for heaven's sake," Bill Forbes nearly growled at her, "Could we _not _stage a loud conversation on my porch about vampires and coffins? Jesus, get inside!"

Elena looked up at him in surprise, "What?"

"I invite Damon inside," he ushered at them impatiently, "Just get in before the neighbors get suspicious."

"Come on then," Katherine looked bored as she reached down to help Elena lift Damon to his feet. "We can put him on the sofa until he wakes up," she dragged him easily down the hall as Elena locked the door behind them. "There's some blood in the freezer for when he comes to, if you want to get that."

Growing more and more confused, Elena turned to look at Caroline's dad. "Has she...Compelled you or something?"

"No, even she can't break through the defenses I've built into my mind," Bill sat down across from her, "But I'm sure you're wondering why I agreed to help her." He hesitated, "It's a long story, starting with the fact that she pretended to be you when she first showed up on my doorstep. I realized my mistake as soon as I invited her in, but by then it was too late."

"And then she threatened you into helping her?"

"You underestimate me, Elena," Katherine leaned across the sofa that Damon was lying on, a grin playing at her lips. "It actually didn't take many threats. I merely told him the truth about Klaus and Stefan—and how no one in Mystic Falls will be safe until Klaus dies."

Damon stirred at that moment, opening one eye and looking blearily at Bill. "Funny," he deadpanned, "I didn't think you much cared for anyone in Mystic Falls, least of all your own flesh and blood."

"I love my daughter," Bill responded stiffly, though his words stuck in his throat (a fact that neither Elena nor Damon missed). "And I do love Liz. Everything I've done is to keep them safe."

"Oh yeah," Damon said sarcastically, snatching the blood packet that Katherine held out to him and downing its contents in one gulp. "Everyone just _swings_ through Mystic Falls, singing tales of how _everything _they've done is to help the family that they've long ago abandoned."

Elena bit her lip and looked down, knowing that he was alluding to more than one person. She glanced back up to see Katherine looking slightly uncomfortable, and Mr. Forbes even more so. "I know that we'll never see eye to eye, Damon. But I firmly believe that everything I've done is right."

"Of course you do."

"Okay, just stop," Elena shook her head, "We're talking in circles here. Damon and I have been tracking Katherine for a while now...so why don't we just stick with the real reason we're here?"

"Which is?"

Damon leaned forward, his eyes flashing, "What really happened at Homecoming?"

"Well," Katherine crossed her legs, "What do you think you know?"

"We know that Klaus spoke to you at the dance," Elena said through gritted teeth, "Except he thought he was speaking to me. I'm guessing that he somehow threatened Damon's life in order to stop the plan from being carried out." She paused, but Katherine didn't say anything to correct her. "So then you went to Stefan and got him to stop Damon from killing Klaus."

Damon tapped his fingers impatiently against the armrest of the sofa, "Nothing to add here, Kat?"

"I'd say you've gotten most of it right," Katherine shrugged indifferently. "Klaus told me that his hybrids had already been instructed to kill you, Damon—that is, if anything happened to him. I couldn't let that happen, so I woke Stefan up and told him what he needed to do."

"Why?" Elena pressed, "Why wouldn't you just tell us? We could've figured out something together...you didn't have to get Stefan involved!"

"Actually, I did," Katherine snapped, "I needed him to prove to himself that his humanity was still there, Elena. And he did...he saved Damon; his love for his brother was still there."

"And why was that so important to you?" Elena retorted, "I thought you spent all this time trying to get Stefan to leave this _human_ life behind?"

"On the contrary, Elena," Katherine answered delicately, "I fell in love with Stefan when he was human. It is his humanity that I wanted to save." She paused, "I wanted him to remember who he was."

"Moving right past that pack of lies," Damon brushed off her comments scathingly, "Let's focus on this little suicide mission that you decided to send Stefan on...I mean, if you claim to love him so much, I'm not quite sure why you sent him off to his _death_."

"So overdramatic," Katherine huffed, "And I'll have you know that he hardly required persuading. We both wanted revenge for what Klaus had done to us...he took my family from me, and he took Stefan's entire life away from him. Is it so difficult to believe that we wanted Klaus to get his retribution for that?"

Damon abruptly blurred forward, his hand closing around Katherine's throat in anger. "Well isn't that great?" he hissed furiously, "Because of you and Stefan stupidly deciding to get revenge, you've now sent Klaus after _all of us_! He's already holding Tyler hostage until we hand over those coffins—"

"I know," Katherine shoved Damon off, "I already told Stefan about it."

Elena frowned, "Wait, how did you know?"

"That bartender I Compelled," she answered dismissively, "Max, remember him?" She didn't wait for an answer and instead tilted her head at them, "Well, I've told you what you wanted to know. How about a little quid pro quo?"

"We don't owe you anything," Damon growled, "But if you must know, we've undaggered Rebekah. She and Caroline are on their way to meet Klaus and Tyler right now. They're in Chicago."

Katherine's expression flickered, "Why would you do that? Aren't you afraid she'll betray you?"

"It's a risk we're willing to take," Elena answered coldly, "Now why don't you do something useful and tell us where Stefan hid the coffins?"

"I can honestly say I have no idea where the coffins are hidden."

"Fine," Damon slammed her into the wall, "Then you know where Stefan is hiding."

Katherine laughed, a seductive look alighting in her features as she grabbed both of Damon's arms. "You know I always liked it when you played rough," she purred, raising an eyebrow in amusement when Damon immediately let go of her and stepped closer to Elena. "Well, well," she strutted towards them, "Have you finally come to the realization that you love them both, Elena? It certainly took you long enough..."

Elena flushed, first with anger and then with something else. She carefully avoided looking at Damon, and instead focused on Katherine. "The _only _reason I'm tracking Stefan is because his actions have put everyone I love and care about in danger." She took a deep breath and then emphasized again, "And that's the _only _reason." She swallowed, her voice strengthening as she went on, "And I've come to realize that I don't owe him anything. I did everything I could to save him, and it wasn't enough. I've learned that I need to let him go. Everything that I thought he was..." Her breath hitched here, but the words came easily enough, "He's not that person anymore. He's gone, and whoever he was...he's not coming back."

Katherine, for once, looked caught off guard. "Are you telling me that you're giving up on him?"

"No," Elena answered slowly, "I don't give up on people. I know that Stefan isn't lost forever. I just..." She glanced at Damon once before returning her gaze to Katherine, "I've just realized that I won't be the one who saves him." Completely spent, she tiredly sat back down and rubbed her hands over her face. "Where is he, Katherine?" she asked wearily, "We have to know."

Damon took a step towards Katherine threateningly, but she held up a hand to stop him. Her expression was conflicted, but she reluctantly responded, "Let's just say that it's a small world, after all."

"What?" Elena looked up sharply, "Is he here?"

"No...But perhaps your little friend Caroline will run into him soon enough."

Elena and Damon exchanged glances as they realized what Katherine meant.

_Chicago._


	12. Just A Dream

**A/N: **so the mystery of the hourglass necklace was finally revealed in the previous chapter! haha I know many of you were waiting to hear what it would be used for. Anyway, we're starting to get down to the final few chapters of this fic! After this one, I believe there will be 3 more chapters. This one takes place almost entirely in Chicago, which is where most of the action will be going down eventually.

* * *

><p>"We need to go now!" Elena shouted at Katherine in frustration, "What part of that do you not understand?"<p>

"No," Katherine said calmly, "You're letting your emotions get in the way of your better judgment, Elena. All of us turning up in Chicago will only complicate matters."

Elena stopped pacing, "Caroline, Tyler, Rebekah, Klaus, _and _Stefan are all in Chicago at the same time and you want us to just sit back and do nothing?"

Katherine stood up, her eyes flashing with anger. "You're really dense, aren't you? Do you WANT to make it easy for Klaus to get to all of us at the same time? It'll be better for everyone if you and Damon just get back to Mystic Falls!"

"While you do what, exactly?" Damon snapped, "Stay here to learn everything Bill has to teach you? He told me that it took him _years _to learn how to control his mind like that. How are you planning on—"

"I'm going to learn how to resist Compulsion if it's the last thing I do," Katherine slammed a glass onto the table, "And then we'll finally have something we can use against Klaus, ever think of that?"

"Ways to get the upper hand on Klaus is _all _I think about," Damon hissed back, "But you're wasting your time! How do you even know if you're learning anything? We don't exactly have an Original sitting around that you can test your theory on."

"Maybe not," Katherine agreed, "But you can always try to enter my mind and see if I've built up enough defenses to block you out."

Damon only grew more frustrated, "That's hardly the same as Compulsion, Katherine. And secondly, you know the only way I could do that is if your mind has been weakened!"

"Fine. I won't drink blood for 48 hours. We'll see what happens then, alright?"

Elena looked over at Damon in disbelief, "You can't honestly be considering this! What about Stefan? We need to find out where he hid the coffins before—"

"I know," Damon said quickly, "But Katherine has a point. We can't just run off and leave everyone in Mystic Falls completely unprotected."

"Exactly," Katherine said, ignoring Elena's incredulous stare. "Just call Caroline and tell her to run interference, at least until we get there."

Elena hesitated, but she knew that she had lost this particular battle. "Fine," she acquiesced, pulling her cell phone out of her pocket. "I just hope you guys know what you're doing." She walked out onto the porch to make the phone call, letting the front door slam shut behind her.

"You better go check on your girlfriend, Damon," Katherine smirked, "I think she might be just a _little _jealous that you sided with me, instead of her."

Damon bit back his initial retort and followed Elena outside, where she was in the midst of her conversation with Caroline. "But don't tell Rebekah any of this," she was saying, "We don't want to give her any ammunition that would entice her to betray us...okay, be careful...you too." She hung up and turned to look at Damon, a slight pout pulling at her lips when he stood in front of her and placed his hands on her hips. "I don't like this plan," she told him honestly, "I feel like we're putting too much faith into Katherine. We shouldn't forget that this whole situation is her fault to begin with."

"You know it's not as simple as that," Damon rubbed soothing circles with his thumbs on the exposed skin above the waistband of her jeans. "Stealing the coffins and involving Stefan was stupid, yes, but...I'd like to believe that she wouldn't play with Stefan's life so easily. Not after what she did to prove he still possessed his humanity."

Elena sighed, allowing Damon to wrap his arms around her so that she could rest her head against his chest. "I just want all this to be over," she said in a muffled voice, "I'm just so tired of all of it."

"I know," Damon murmured, kissing the top of her head gently. "But we'll get through this together. We always do."

* * *

><p>"Who was that?" Rebekah demanded when Caroline hung up the phone, "Was it Elena? Did they find Katherine?"<p>

Caroline nodded, "Yeah, Elena said that my dad was okay, thank god. Apparently he was helping Katherine of his own free will...which is weird, since he hates vampires so much."

Rebekah glanced at her once before turning her gaze back to the road. "So your father hates _you_?"

"He hates what I am," Caroline answered evasively, "He was raised on the anti-vampire propaganda like the rest of the Founding families. He doesn't understand."

"Don't make excuses for him," Rebekah snapped suddenly, "What, does he want you to _not _be a vampire?" She stepped on the gas pedal in her anger, and the car shot forward. "What is it with fathers thinking they know what's best for their children? In the end, all they do is ruin your life!"

Caroline wisely recognized that they were no longer talking about her own father, and chose to keep silent.

"I could never understand why Mikael _chose _for us to become monsters," Rebekah ranted on, her hands tightly gripping the steering wheel. "At least your dad wants you to become human again, but mine..." She shook her head then, coming back to reality. "Mikael is gone now, all that matters now is Klaus."

"Would you have gone through with the plan?" Caroline asked on a whim, "I mean, if Elena hadn't—"

"Stabbed me in the back?"

"Well, yeah...would you have been able to actually see Klaus dead?"

Rebekah frowned at her, "After what he did? Of course I would have. I can't understand why Elena thought I would betray her."

"I don't have any brothers or sisters," Caroline replied carefully, "But from what I've seen of Stefan and Damon..." She hesitated, "They've both gone to extreme lengths to ruin each other in the past, but at the end of the day...I don't think they would ever actually be able to kill each other."

"It's different for me," Rebekah said after they had taken the exit off the highway, "Klaus has lied to me for all these years. I can't forgive what he's done."

.

"Well," she announced twenty minutes later, "Here we are." She pulled into a parking space on a busy street and then pointed to a establishment across from them, "There's the bar."

Caroline squinted at the flickering sign, "Ria's?"

"It belonged to Gloria, but she's dead now," Rebekah said, getting out of the car and turning around to look at Caroline. "Are you ready for this?"

"Sure," Caroline muttered as she followed Rebekah across the street, "Not that I have much of a choice." They entered the dimly lit bar, which was oddly silent except for...

"Caroline!" Tyler hopped off his barstool and nearly sprinted towards her, "You're here!" He enveloped her in a grateful hug, sighing into her hair as he reveled in her familiarity. "I've missed you."

She was about to say the words back, when she happened to look over his shoulder and see Klaus staring at them through narrowed eyes. "Yeah," Caroline tried to smile, ending the hug and stepping back. "Are you okay? We've all been worried about you."

Tyler looked slightly hurt by her lack of response, but he brushed the expression off his face quickly. "I'm fine," he gestured over his shoulder, "Klaus has kept his word."

"But that can change if I don't get what I want," Klaus finally walked towards them, though he stopped next to Rebekah first and touched her arm affectionately. "I was starting to get worried about you."

Rebekah flashed him a smile, "No need to worry, Nick. I'm here now, that's all that matters. We'll find out where Stefan hid the rest of our family, I promise."

"That's what I like to hear," Klaus squeezed her arm again and then moved towards Caroline. "As you can see, Tyler has been unharmed. I only hope that you likewise have some good news for me?"

Caroline fought against the instinctive urge to step away from Klaus and instead held her ground, even when he came too close for comfort. "I just spoke to Elena, actually," she said, trying to relax her posture. "She said that they've found Katherine and they're trying to figure out where Stefan has gone and where he would've hid the coffins."

Klaus eyed her for a moment before leaning forward and breathing in her ear, "You better be telling the truth, love."

"I am," she lifted her chin defiantly, "I have no reason to lie."

"Good," he smiled at her, though it didn't hold a trace of warmth. "Have you met Maya yet?" When Caroline shook her her head, he turned and called for Maya to join them. "This is my new witch," he informed them in a pleased tone, "And she's been _quite _helpful. Maya, dear, why don't we show Rebekah and Caroline how easy it is to check up on Elena?"

"Okay," Maya agreed dully, "I'll go get the ingredients."

"We already checked up on her once," Klaus told Caroline when Maya had disappeared behind the bar to get the silver bowl. "Elena's certainly coping with the loss of Stefan well, isn't she?"

Caroline frowned, "What do you mean?"

Tyler cleared his throat, "Er, we saw her...kissing Damon. I think they were in his room."

"They were kissing?" she repeated slowly, "When?"

"Here you go," Maya returned and placed several items in front of Klaus, "We can do the spell now."

Caroline turned away, "I'm not going to spy on my best friend."

Klaus shrugged his shoulders indifferently, "Suit yourself."

"I will," she muttered under her breath, tiredly folding her arms on a booth on the other side of the bar and resting her head for a second. The drive to Chicago had been long, and the continuing tension with Rebekah had left her weary.

Rebekah called to her at that moment, "There's a ton of shops on this street, if you want to look around while we do this spell."

Caroline distinctly got the impression that they didn't want her in the room. "Fine," she sighed and got up, pausing at the door to look at Tyler. However, when he didn't meet her gaze, she shook her head and let the door slam behind her as she exited the bar.

The street was busy, and Caroline took a step back to avoid all the pedestrians. She looked up and down the street, before arbitrarily choosing to go left. She walked for about ten minutes, when suddenly the window display of one of the stores caught her eye. A deep royal purple evening gown shimmered in the window, practically calling to her. She timidly entered the store, which was clearly high-end, judging by the lack of customers. The shopkeeper, a sharp middle-aged woman, materialized within moments. "How may I help you?"

"I'd like to try that dress on," Caroline pointed at the window, "Do you have it in size 6?"

"Sure," the shopkeeper gave her a tight smile, "I'll be right back." She came back several minutes later with the dress draped over her arm, and pointed towards the back of the store. "The fitting rooms are back there."

"Thanks," Caroline gave her a winning smile and went to go try it on. She stepped into one of the fitting rooms and examined her appearance in the mirror with a critical eye. She pursed her lips in annoyance—she never did look good after a long car ride. No wonder the shopkeeper thought she wasn't going to buy anything. She carelessly removed her clothes and let them fall to the ground, reaching for the silky material of the dress and pulling it over her head.

It fit her like a glove, and Caroline's lips parted in satisfaction when she looked up to examine her reflection. The neckline dipped slightly, and the bodice was lined with gold. It was, to put it lightly, completely perfect. She unlocked the door to her stall and stepped out into the main fitting room, which housed a large wall-to-wall mirror.

However, it wasn't her reflection that she saw.

Caroline gasped, turning around to see Stefan standing behind her. "Oh my god," her hands flew to her mouth as she ran towards him. He caught her at arm's length, letting a small smile touch his lips. "You look beautiful, Caroline. Like royalty."

She disregarded the words coming out of his mouth, her eyes widening in disbelief. "How did you find me? What are you doing here? Everyone's been trying to find you!"

Stefan shook his head once, his green eyes strangely void of emotion. "I didn't want to be found."

As Caroline stood there, taking in his vacant expression, something within her snapped. Suddenly enraged, she shoved at his shoulders angrily, causing him to stumble backwards. "You have no idea!" she raged, jabbing a finger into his chest, "The hell that you put Elena and Damon through—how much they went through to save you, and then you decided to pull some stupid scheme with Katherine for revenge? What the hell were you thinking?"

Stefan forcefully flung her arm to the side, his expression growing angry. "I didn't ask to be saved! Mystic Falls isn't my home anymore—it never was!"

Caroline's mouth dropped open comically, the shock of his statement hitting her like a ton of bricks. "After everything that's happened?" her voice rose several octaves in her fury, "The only thing you've accomplished is sending Klaus after everyone that still cares about you!" Her hands clenched into fists, "He'll kill everyone if you don't abandon your dumb plan and just give him back his family!"

He abruptly grabbed her shoulders and hauled her towards him, ignoring her squeak of indignation. "That," he hissed at her, their faces inches apart, "Is never going to happen. Go home Caroline."

Then, just like that, he disappeared.

.

"Let her rest," Tyler was saying, "She's never been good at long car rides."

"Don't be ridiculous," Klaus snapped, "Surely she wants to see what Elena and Damon are up to..." He whistled sharply, and Caroline awoke with a start. She looked around wildly, confusion marring her features when she saw that she was still in the bar. "Come here," Klaus ordered her, gesturing to the silver bowl in front of him, "We've just done the spell to see what Elena is doing. It's quite interesting, really."

Caroline slid out of the booth, rubbing her hands over her face. _What the hell had just happened? Had it all just been a dream? But it had been so vivid..._

"Hey," Tyler sounded concerned, "Are you alright?"

"I just..." she swallowed, hoping she sounded casual, "I just want to get some fresh air. I'll be right back." She quickly stepped outside the bar, keeping her head down so that Tyler wouldn't ask any more questions.

She looked up and down the street, a strong feeling of déjà vu hitting her as she once again stepped back to avoid the pedestrians. _But that never happened before...because it was just a dream, _she reminded herself. Then she took a deep breath, suddenly sure that she wasn't going crazy. Stefan...he must've somehow entered her mind. She had been tired, her defenses had been down. It would've been easy for him to get in her head and deliver his little message. But that meant...he had to be close by.

Caroline frantically looked around again, but it was impossible to see anyone in the crowds of people walking back and forth. She sighed, her shoulders slumping forward as she gave up. Maybe she really was crazy, after all. She turned around to go back into the bar, when she suddenly saw it.

A reflection in the window.

She whirled back around, catching sight of Stefan standing across the street. He raised his head when their gazes met, and she saw brief regret flash in his eyes. Then he was gone.

* * *

><p>*<em>Merry ChristmasHappy Holidays to all you awesome readers and reviewers. **p.s.** Less than two weeks until this TVD-hiatus is over!_


	13. The Key

**A/N: **exactly one week until TVD returns!

* * *

><p>"I can't believe Klaus has checked on Elena four times already," Bonnie muttered moodily as she stared at the four red diamonds inside the hourglass pendant. "I hope he's not getting bored of waiting for us to find Stefan or the coffins."<p>

Jeremy, who was seated across from her at the kitchen table, shrugged, "If I was him, then I would be getting impatient too."

"As would we all," Bonnie muttered under her breath, "We should _be _in Chicago already—we shouldn't be waiting around for Katherine to master the art of resisting Compulsion or whatever it is that she's up to! We're wasting time."

"Damon doesn't think so."

She snorted, "And since when has Damon ever been a good judge of bad ideas?"

Jeremy leveled her a look, "I thought you guys were getting along now."

"We are," she relented, "But I reserve the right to blame him irrationally from time to time." Her lips quirked into a small smile, and he flashed a grin back at her. Their gazes met for a minute before she cleared her throat, "So, can you believe Stefan entered Caroline's mind like that?"

"I know, what a douche," Jeremy shook his head, "I don't understand why he has to be such a martyr all the time."

Bonnie pursed her lips, "Whatever his reasons are, it's not worth putting all our lives in danger." Then she sighed and got to her feet, "Ready to do the spell to see what Klaus is up to?"

"He hasn't been doing anything the other three times we checked up on him," Jeremy complained, but he helped Bonnie gather the items that she needed, nonetheless. "Come on, we can set these up in my room. I don't want to bother Ric."

Bonnie nodded and they quietly made their way through the living room. Alaric was sitting on the sofa, muttering to himself as he studied a photo in his hand. "Hey," he didn't look up, but gestured for them to join him. "What does this look like to you?"

Jeremy peered at it, squinting, "Er, a mountain?"

Alaric frowned at him, pointing at the hieroglyphic with his finger, "There's smoke coming out of it."

"A volcano, then?" Bonnie suggested, but Alaric didn't look pleased with that answer either.

"It's too small for that."

"Well, you're the history buff," Jeremy pointed out, "What do you think it is?"

"That's just it," Ric said in frustration, "I don't know. It was next to this picture on the wall." He picked up another photo of a hieroglyphic, which looked vaguely like a sketch of some sort of insect. "These two are connected somehow, I just can't figure out how."

"I'm sure you will," Bonnie said with a reassuring smile. She glanced at Jeremy before adding, "We were just about to go upstairs and do the _Gemini_ spell to see what Klaus is up to. He checked up on Elena a fourth time, so we can see him again too. Do you want to join us?"

"No, no you guys go ahead," he waved them off impatiently, "I'm going to keep working on this."

"You'll figure it out," Jeremy grasped Alaric's shoulder briefly before following Bonnie upstairs, "You always do."

* * *

><p>Screaming.<p>

Shouting.

More screaming.

"This is ridiculous," Elena hissed at Damon, her knees drawn up to her chest as she huddled in the corner of the sofa. "What on earth is Mr. Forbes doing to Katherine down in the basement?"

"It's been 48 hours," Damon said wearily, "She's running on no blood, and I've repeatedly been able to get into her mind. Whatever Bill Forbes is doing there, it sure as hell better work fast."

Elena chewed on the inside of her lip, her eyes unfocused, "We need to get to Chicago before it's too late. Klaus is going to get impatient."

Damon opened his mouth to tell her that Klaus had already checked up on her four times (thus proving that he really was getting impatient), but then he remembered that she didn't know about the Gemini spell yet. He noticed Elena looking at him strangely and he quickly covered, "I would be more worried about Stefan doing something reckless than Klaus."

"True," Elena frowned, "I can't believe that dream he gave Caroline! Telling her that he didn't want to be saved…Did he really think that would work? That we would just give up on him?"

"That's my brother," Damon scowled, "Ever the martyr."

They sat in silence for several moments before Elena commented, "You have to give her credit, though. When she sets her mind to something, she doesn't give up."

"Who, Katherine?" he scoffed, "Yeah, she can be very determined when her own interests are at stake."

Elena glanced at him once, but then quickly looked away, "Or Stefan's. Or yours."

Damon frowned, thinking. "She does seem to respond in strange and un-Katherine-like ways where Stefan is concerned."

"Where are you going?" Elena asked, surprised, as he abruptly got to his feet. "Is something wrong?"

"The screaming has stopped," he called over his shoulder as he opened the basement door, "Time to try again."

He made his way into the basement, being sure to shut the door firmly behind him. He stopped on the bottom stair, examining Katherine. She was tied to a wooden chair in the center of the room, with both her wrists and ankles bound. Her eyes had taken on a dead, haunted look. Bruises on her shoulders were clear against her pale skin, from where Bill had presumably gripped her too tightly. "Well," Damon remarked, "She's not looking too good, is she?"

Katherine hissed at him, but it was too weak to sound remotely like a threat. "I've done what I can," Bill said to him, dusting off his hands on his handkerchief. "Now it's up to her to use the defenses I've taught her against your little mind tricks."

"Alright," Damon leaned against the banister, a smirk playing at his lips as he narrowed his eyes at Katherine. "Let's try for round 10, shall we?"

.

"Is there anything else you'll be wanting, Miss Katherine?" Emily Bennett bowed respectfully, "Or shall I just take my leave?"

"No, that'll be all," Katherine was about to dismiss her maid, when she suddenly paused. "Actually, do you mind finding Mr. Salvatore and telling him that I have retired to my bedchambers and would like to see him?"

Emily curtsied, "Of course. Now, will that be the younger Mr. Salvatore or the eldest?"

"Youngest," Katherine replied without hesitation,moving to the mirror to fix her hair. "Oh, and do try to stay out of Damon's way. I don't want him to know that I'm meeting Stefan." From the reflection in the mirror, she saw Emily nod politely and slip out of the bedroom door. Katherine returned to scrutinizing her appearance, her fingers threading in her curls to keep them in place. When there was a knock on the door a few minutes later, she covertly smoothed down her dress. "Who is it?"

"It's me," Stefan's voice answered from behind the door, "Emily told me that you wished to see me."

"Oh good," Katherine raised her skirts as she walked over to the door and let him in, "You came."

"Of course, my lady," he stepped into her room and shut the door behind him, though he made no move towards Katherine. Instead, he merely folded his arms behind his back and gave her a look of polite curiosity, "What seems to be the matter?"

Katherine frowned, caught off guard, "What do you mean?"

Stefan's expression didn't change, though he shifted uncomfortably, "I only meant, why did you call me to your bedchambers at this late hour?"

"You know why," she stepped towards him and placed her hand on his cheek, drawing him closer for a kiss. As soon as their lips touched, however, he was backing away and shaking his head. "What is it?" Katherine asked in confusion, grabbing his arm to stop him from leaving, "What's happened?"

"I can't do this," Stefan avoided her gaze, "It's not right."

"But...you told me you loved me!" Katherine knew she sounded desperate, but she didn't care, "You said you wanted to be with me...I don't understand—"

"Of course you don't," Stefan said in an uncharacteristically cold voice, "Well perhaps you will understand this, Miss Pierce." He wrenched his arm out of her grip and stalked to the door, "I don't love you and I never have. There's nothing going on between us, and there never will be."

Katherine's mouth dropped open in shock, "What? You cannot possibly mean that! What about—" She broke off suddenly, her brow furrowing as she drew in several deep breaths. "No," she murmured, almost to herself. "No, you would never say that to me." She looked up at him, her eyes narrowing, "What is this?"

.

Damon felt a sharp pain in his head and he stumbled backwards, raising his hands to his throbbing temples with a groan. Katherine's eyes flew open as she looked around the room frantically, relief flickering in her expression. "Wasn't real," she gasped out, "Knew...it wasn't real."

The pain subsided somewhat and Damon raised his head to meet her gaze. "You kicked me out of your mind," he stated incredulously, "You were actually able to keep me out!"

"It finally worked," Bill Forbes remarked from where he was standing in the corner, "What did you do differently this time?"

"Damon?" Elena opened the basement door hesitantly and peered down the stairs, "Is everything alright?"

He nodded, gesturing for her to come down. "It worked," he told her as she walked down the stairs tentatively, "Katherine was able to recognize that her mind was being invaded and she pushed me out." He shook his head slightly, looking disgruntled, "And now I have one hell of a migraine."

"How?" Elena asked curiously, "How did it finally work?"

Bill Forbes glanced at Damon, "You must've used something...or someone...that kick-started her defense mechanism. Now that we know it's there, it's only a matter of learning how to use them properly."

"Actually," Damon locked eyes with Katherine, "It's something that Elena said that got me thinking. You seem to think that everything you do is for Stefan, so..." He shrugged, "I figured that using Stefan would be the key."

Katherine breathed out slowly, nodding. "Okay, what now?"

"Now? We go to Chicago, obviously," Elena said in a tight voice, "You've learned what you stayed here to do, didn't you?"

Damon's phone beeped at that moment, and he pulled it out to look at a text message from Alaric. "Oh good," he deadpanned, "Ric and I have apparently entered the sending-pictures-to-each-other phase of our relationship."

"What is it?" Elena took the phone from him and frowned at the picture, "Isn't this one of the images from the cave wall? Why is he sending it to you?"

"The text says that he wants us to ask Bill if he knows what it could mean," Damon said skeptically as he nodded at Elena to show it to Mr. Forbes. "Well? Does it look like anything you've seen before?"

Bill adjusted his glasses, squinting at the image. "Actually I have," he said slowly, "I believe that is the sign for rebirth." He glanced up at them, "Like a phoenix being born again from ashes."

"Funny you should mention ashes," Damon slid his finger over his phone screen so they could view the second message, "Doesn't that look like a pile of ashes to you? It's still smoking from the top..." Elena nodded, and they all fell silent as Damon immediately called Alaric back and told him what they were all speculating. "So the real question is, what was the image that comes before these two on the cave wall?"

Alaric rustled through his stack of pictures before finding what he was looking for. He hesitated, "It's the oak tree."


	14. Midnight

**A/N: **Happy New Year everyone! p.s. See if you can spot the small Buffy reference + a bit of dialogue from the 3x10 TVD promo ;)

* * *

><p><span>10 AM<span>

"The question is," Damon mused as they all drove towards the Lockwood mansion, "Did Klaus suspect that the stake from the white oak tree had regenerative properties?"

"He can't have," Elena said from the backseat, where she was sitting with Bonnie and Jeremy. "Wouldn't he have taken the ashes with him?"

"Well, it's not like we know what he did after he staked Mikael…maybe he did save the ashes."

Alaric, who was sitting in the passenger seat, twisted around to frown at them, "Well, we just have to hope that he knew and got Tyler to keep them somewhere." He paused and then added, "Preferably somewhere in his house, and not in Chicago."

Jeremy leaned forward, "So, what exactly happened to the stake after Klaus stabbed Mikael?"

"I _told _you," Damon answered impatiently, "Mikael and the stake both went up in flames. Obviously there would be ashes—the issue is finding them."

"How are we planning on getting into the house to search it?" Elena nodded up at the Lockwood mansion as Damon pulled into the driveway. "Should we just tell Mrs. Lockwood the truth?"

"No," Jeremy shook his head, "We should find out what story Tyler has told his mom about where he's been for the past week and then pretend that he sent us over to his house to find something."

"Me and Elena will come with you," Bonnie said as Jeremy stepped out of the car, "It'll look suspicious if Damon and Alaric come in…but Mrs. Lockwood might believe that the three of us are Tyler's friends."

"We _are_ his friends," Jeremy reminded them in a firm voice, leading the way up the porch steps. He rang the doorbell and waited, plastering a broad smile on his face when Carol answered the door. "Mrs. Lockwood," he greeted, "How are you?"

She frowned at them, "I'm doing alright. The house has been so quiet with Tyler and Caroline gone on their little romantic getaway. I hope they're staying out of trouble…you aren't here because of them, are you?"

Bonnie smiled pleasantly, "Actually, yes we are…see, Caroline said she might have accidently left her purse up in Tyler's room the last time she was here. Do you mind if we try to find it?"

"Well, if she needs it right away…" Carol said uncertainly as she stepped back to let the three of them in, though she didn't look as if she quite believed their story. "Are you sure that's all you're looking for?"

"Just a purse," Elena nodded, flashing her a friendly smile. "Thanks, Mrs. Lockwood. We'll be out of here as soon as we find it."

* * *

><p><span>11 AM<span>

Alaric tapped his fingers along the side of the window, growing restless. "So, how long is Katherine planning on staying at Bill's house? Surely she wants to come to Chicago with us?"

"She said she needs more time to make sure she's really gotten ahold of her new skills," Damon grimaced, "She said she'll meet us in Chicago by tomorrow."

"Hopefully nothing happens by then," Alaric glanced at Damon out of the corner of his eye, "If _you _were Stefan, where would you hide the coffins?"

"I honestly have no idea," Damon's brow furrowed as he tried to think, "It would have to be the last place anyone would look...or at the very least, the last place that anyone would suspect."

"You don't think it's in Mystic Falls, do you?"

"No, Katherine dropped him off at least four hours away from here. He wouldn't have been able to double-back on his own, especially with all the coffins."

"So you think there's a possibility he might have hidden them in Chicago? Is that why he's there? To be nearby in case Klaus gets a little too close to finding them?"

"The thought had crossed my mind, but I can't imagine what hiding place he would've been able to find—" Damon broke off when he saw the front door open, "Do you think they found it?"

Alaric got out of the car eagerly, watching as Elena hurried towards them. "Well? Any luck?"

"Check it out," Bonnie glanced over her shoulder to make sure that Mrs. Lockwood had gone back inside, before reaching within her jacket for a small purple cloth. "Jeremy found this in Tyler's dresser."

Damon got out of the car as well, peering over Alaric's shoulder as he slowly undid the knot. "Those are definitely ashes," Damon examined the contents carefully, "And if they were hidden, then I guess we can assume it's what we were looking for."

Jeremy turned to look at Bonnie, "Do you know what spell to use to regenerate the stake out of these ashes?"

"The spell I found this morning should work. I don't know how long it will take to do, though."

"Okay," Elena bit her lip, "You should go to Mr. Forbes' house to do the spell. You and Katherine can both drive to Chicago when you're done...Damon and I will leave now, and—"

"What about us?" Jeremy interrupted, gesturing to himself and Alaric. "I hope you don't think that we're just going to sit here and do nothing!"

Damon heaved a sigh, "Fine, go with Bonnie. All four of you can drive up tomorrow. Sound good?"

Bonnie smiled grimly, "Sounds like a plan."

* * *

><p><span>6 PM<span>

Damon pulled off the highway, and they entered Chicago soon after. He glanced sideways at Elena, who was nervously twisting her hands in her lap. She didn't say anything until they had parked in front of Ria's bar, which had a 'Closed' sign on the door. He nodded towards it, "According to Caroline's intel, we can assume that she's in there with Tyler, Rebekah, and Klaus."

"Do you think Klaus knows that we're here?"

"Well he hasn't sent out a welcoming party yet," Damon responded dryly, his gaze flicking up and down the darkened street. "We need to find Stefan."

"How will we find him?" Elena shifted, her expression becoming worried. "Chicago is a big place, Damon. He could be anywhere."

"Or he could be close by," Damon replied casually, "In fact, he could be watching us right now."

Elena frowned, paranoia causing her to peer out the back window of the car. "What are you talking about? Do you think he'd be stupid enough to stand right outside the bar where Klaus is?"

"I think we all know the extent of my brother's stupidity," Damon got out of the car to stretch his legs, blurring around to the passenger side to open the door for Elena. "I'm just saying, wouldn't he be better off keeping an eye on Klaus' whereabouts if he really is hiding the coffins somewhere in this city?"

"If you say so," she muttered as she stepped out of the car, "And be more careful about showing off your vampiric skills. We don't want to draw unnecessary attention to ourselves."

"There's no one around," Damon pointed out, turning to look through the windows of the un-lit bar. "I wonder how Klaus convinced the owner to shut down for the past week." He glanced back at Elena, and stiffened when he saw her eyes briefly gleam red. "Elena?"

"What's wrong?" she seemed startled by his sudden demeanor, "Damon, what is it?"

He jerked her chin upwards, trying to see into her eyes. "It's gone," he muttered in confusion, "Whatever I saw, it's gone." At that moment, his cell phone began ringing from his pocket and he pulled it out to see Bonnie's name flash across the screen. He was just about to answer it when Elena let out a sudden scream. Before he could react, something knocked into him with a force so strong that he went flying backwards and only came to a stop when he crashed into a car at least fifty feet away. "ELENA!" he shouted, staggering to his feet and looking around wildly.

"Well, well," Klaus stepped into his line of vision, "I guess they're just letting any sort of riffraff cross the state border these days, aren't they?" Damon blurred forward with a growl, but Klaus easily caught him around the throat and shoved him into a metal pole. Elena cried out as there was a sickening crunching sound, and Damon hissed in pain. "I suppose you're wondering how I knew you were here?" Klaus pulled the hourglass pendant out from his jacket, "My witch checked on Elena a few minutes ago, and imagine my surprise when I saw the two of you standing right across the street from Maya's bar." His mouth turned up into a pronounced smirk, "If I had known you were coming, I would've baked a cake."

Damon let out a snarl, "Shut up."

"Well, come along then," Klaus said jovially, letting go of Damon's throat and grabbing the scruff of his neck instead. "Let's head on inside, shall we?" He pushed Damon forcefully into the street, and paused when they were halfway across to ask Elena why she wasn't following them. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me."

"What?" Damon stumbled several feet forward when Klaus suddenly let go of him, "What's happened?" He turned around to see where Klaus was looking, and realized that Elena was nowhere to be found. "Yeah, Elena is notoriously bad at staying put in one place," he suppressed a smile, feeling a surge of pride in his chest, "It can be a real problem sometimes."

Klaus glared at him, his eyes narrowing in anger. "I daresay she'll turn up eventually. It's not like she has anywhere to go, all alone in a city she's never been in." He gave Damon another shove in the direction of the bar, "And if she doesn't, then we can always try another little location spell, can't we?" As soon as they entered the bar, he called to Maya, "Come over here, darling. The wretched girl has run off. Do the spell again."

Maya sighed, and came forward to get the necklace back from Klaus. As she approached, however, she stopped in shock. "Oh my god, what happening?" she exclaimed suddenly, watching in horror as the hourglass pendant and the diamonds within it spontaneously disintegrated into dust in Klaus' hands. "What the—"

Klaus roared in frustration, whirling around to look at Damon, "That witch of yours! What has she done?"

Damon pulled out his cell phone, a grin flitting across his face when he saw Bonnie's text message. '_A fifth diamond turned red. I decided it was time to get rid of the pendant. The gemini spell ensures that both necklaces will be destroyed. We can't track him anymore, but he won't be able to track her anymore either. Hope you've reached Chicago —B'_

At that moment, Rebekah walked down a staircase in the corner of the bar. "I thought I heard shouting," she drawled when she saw Damon, "Where's your little girlfriend? I would've thought the two of you would be joined at the hip by now."

"She's out there somewhere," Klaus snapped, gesturing towards the window. Abruptly, rage settled across his expression, "TYLER! Get down here, now!"

There was a creak on the staircase as Tyler and Caroline both appeared behind Rebekah. Caroline looked over at Damon, her eyes widening with concern when she saw the trail of blood running down his forehead. He shook his head slightly to tell her he was alright, watching with trepidation as Tyler approached Klaus. "Uh, you called?"

"I want you to go and find Elena," Klaus hissed through clenched teeth, "Bring her back here by tonight. Understood?"

"But...ah, what if she doesn't listen to me?"

"Then you'll _make _her listen to you, won't you?" When Tyler still didn't move, Klaus took a deadly step forward. "I believe that was an _order_, Tyler."

"Yes, of course," Tyler ducked his head and made his way towards the door, determinately not looking in Caroline's direction.

"Oh and one more thing," Klaus called after him, his tone growing cold, "Use force if necessary."

Damon immediately leapt forward, hissing in fury, "You can't hurt Elena!"

"Actually," Klaus corrected, slamming Damon into the wall and effectively restraining him. "I can't _kill_ Elena...but a little roughening up never hurt anyone," he tilted his head, "After all, you people do seem to respond best to violence..."

* * *

><p><span>10 PM<span>

Elena shivered as she exited yet another bar, still not having found Stefan. Her cell phone battery had long since died, and she was beginning to get desperate. She paused on a street corner, trying to decide which way to go next. After a few minutes, her eyes alighted on a group of teenagers across the street, all drunkenly laughing as they walked out of a dimly lit building that she hadn't noticed before. Guessing that it must be another bar, Elena crossed the street quickly.

She was just about to go in when her gaze fell on a pay-phone booth on the sidewalk outside the building. "Oh thank god," she muttered, hurriedly making her way towards it. Just as she reached it, however, the door to the bar opened and an extremely drunk man stumbled out of it. He caught sight of her instantly, and a leer spread across his face. "Aren't you a pretty little thing?" he staggered towards her, alcohol fumes rolling off him in waves. "What are you doing out here all alone?"

Elena turned away, crossing her arms around herself as she looked up and down the deserted street. She tried to skirt around him so that she could get into the bar, but he blocked her path and grabbed her wrist to pull her towards him. "Let go of me!" Elena felt adrenaline shoot through her body as she kicked out in anger. She felt her foot connect solidly into his gut at the same time that she elbowed him in the face. He let out a string of curses as he stumbled back from her, clutching his bloody nose. "You psycho bitch!" he spat, though he flinched backwards when she clenched her fists in response and crouched slightly into a fighting stance.

"I would leave if I were you," Elena said evenly, her eyes narrowing as he looked her over with a calculating gaze. After a moment, he muttered something incomprehensible under his breath and took off in the other direction.

"Well, well. I'm impressed."

Elena whirled around at the familiar voice, her eyes widening when she saw who was standing behind her. "Stefan," she breathed, "You're here."

Stefan gave her a slow smile as he strode towards her, "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

She lifted her head, "Damon. He's been teaching me."

"I'm glad," Stefan stopped when he was directly in front of her. "You're stronger now," he commented as he looked her over, "Braver. More confident." His lips curved upwards into a small smile, and for a second he almost looked like the Stefan that she had known. "You've changed," he glanced over her shoulder, his eyes following the path of the drunken man who she had fended off. "You don't need saving anymore..." He trailed off, his expression softening, "I'm proud of you, Elena."

Elena nodded and took a deep breath, stepping towards him. "You're right," she said quietly as she laid a hand on his chest, "I don't need to be saved." Then she lifted her gaze to meet his, "But you do."

* * *

><p><span>11:30 PM<span>

"So, this is where you've been staying?" Elena cautiously walked into the apartment, looking around almost warily. "I guess it makes sense...Your old apartment must bring back memories of your glory days."

Stefan hid a smile, "No need to look so worried. I haven't hidden any dead bodies in the closet, in case you're wondering."

Her gaze flicked momentarily to the closet, her mind flashing back to the last time she had been inside this apartment. She pursed her lips, "Have you added any names to your list of victims in there?"

"I'm sure you would like to know."

"Yes, actually, I would," she said, catching him off guard. "In fact, I would _love _to know what you've been up to since you ran away from Mystic Falls and left everyone to deal with your mess."

Stefan glanced at her, "Is that how you really see it?"

Elena studied his expression before replying quietly, "I know what you did for Damon. I know you saved his life."

"Then you should be happy."

"Happy?" she repeated in disbelief, "Klaus has threatened to kill all of us because of this little stunt that you pulled, and—"

"He can't hurt you," Stefan interrupted evenly, "He needs your blood."

Elena stood up in anger, "And what about everyone else? Jeremy? Alaric? What about our friends, Stefan?" She shook her head, frustration causing her voice to rise several octaves, "Do you even remember them—the people that STILL care about you? The ones that want to help you?"

"I've done everything I could to protect the people in that town!" Stefan shouted back at her, "Did it ever occur to you that maybe I _needed _to do this? That maybe I _needed _revenge for everything Klaus has done? I told you not to come searching for me!" He suddenly stopped talking, looking as though he had accidently said too much.

Her brow furrowed, something nagging on the edges of her memory. '_Damon, if you're reading this, I want to tell you not to go searching for Stefan any longer. He's doing something that he has to do, and I fully support his choice to leave. You should do the same. As for Elena, I know that where she goes, you will inevitably follow. Tell her that Stefan leaving isn't personal; he's just doing something for himself, for the first time in his life.' _

"The note," she murmured slowly, "The one that Katherine wrote and left for me and Damon to find...I remember; part of the note was written in a different handwriting." She looked up at Stefan incredulously, "I thought Katherine was in a hurry or something, and that's why the handwriting was different...but it was _you_."

"So what if it was?" Stefan gripped the edges of the countertop tightly, "I don't know what you and Damon are planning to accomplish here in Chicago, but you need to leave. It's not safe."

"We came here to give Klaus back his coffins," Elena snapped, "And that's exactly what we're going to do." When he only shook his head, she walked towards him beseechingly. "Stefan, you can't possibly think this is a good idea...I don't know how Katherine convinced you to do any of this, but—"

The door to the apartment flew open with a bang, bouncing off the wall violently. Tyler stepped in a minute later, his eyes dark and unfocused, "I'm here for Elena."

* * *

><p><em>*Chapter 5 of this fic is the one with Katherine's note. The title of the chapter was "two truths and lie" which was a hint that one of the paragraphs of the note wasn't actually written by her ;) <em>


	15. Finale: Part I

**FINALE: PART I**

* * *

><p><em> I'm out on the edge and I'm screaming my name<em>  
><em>Like a fool at the top of my lungs<em>  
><em>Sometimes when I close my eyes I pretend I'm alright<em>  
><em>But it's never enough<br>-Echo _

* * *

><p><span>12 AM<span>

Stefan blurred across the room so that he was standing in front of Elena, his arm thrown out in front of her protectively, "She's not going anywhere."

"So," Tyler tilted his head, his eyes glinting, "You've been in Chicago this whole time and Klaus never suspected a thing."

"That's right," Stefan smiled pleasantly, "Just a hunch, but I'm guessing he isn't going to be too pleased when he hears about that."

"He won't," Tyler agreed curtly, "But I have a feeling he'll be pretty damn grateful once I hand you over…grateful enough to let me and Caroline go, at least."

"Oh, what's the matter?" Stefan took a menacing step forward, "Getting sick of being Klaus' lapdog?"

"You would know all about that, wouldn't you?" Tyler shot back, his gaze momentarily flicking to Elena. "I don't know what sort of master plan you guys had going on here, but clearly it's not going to work. You're both going to come back with me," he paused and then added unnecessarily, "_Now._"

"We're not going anywhere," Stefan corrected, "And neither are you." He began walking in a slow circle around Tyler, "See, I can't let you go because you'll run off and tell Klaus that I'm here…and I _really _can't have you screwing with my plans."

"Do you really think you can stop me?" Tyler gave a short laugh, "I'm a hybrid, Stefan…or have you forgotten? I could kill you before you had time to—"

"But you won't," Stefan cut in smoothly, "Because Klaus would never forgive you for robbing him of the chance to kill me himself, will he?"

Tyler faltered.

"Right…" Elena cleared her throat, and they both turned to give her identical looks of exasperation. "So, it looks like we're at a stalemate, doesn't it?"

Tyler suddenly blurred forward, shoving Stefan aside easily. Elena took a startled step backwards as Tyler appeared inches in front of her face. "I don't want to hurt you," he breathed, "But Klaus has ordered me to bring you back to him, with or without your permission."

Elena swallowed, being careful not to break eye contact. "Well, I refuse to go with you," she said strongly, "Are you really going to bring me back by force?"

He took another step towards her, barely leaving her room to breathe. Behind them, Stefan got to his feet with a growl. "I told you," Tyler repeated slowly, "I don't _want _to hurt you...but I can't disobey Klaus' orders, Elena. I _will _have to bring you back, one way or the other."

"Fight it," Elena whispered, glancing up at Tyler as he moved in even closer, "If not for me, then do it for Caroline..." He paused, and she could see the war he was waging within himself. He twitched slightly then, shaking his head.

"It doesn't work like that...I can't just _not _follow his orders. Not even if I wanted to." Tyler's expression flickered with regret, "I'm sorry, Elena." He made a sudden movement as though he was going to carry her out the door, but Stefan abruptly blurred forward and grabbed Elena in an unbreakable chokehold. "What are you doing?" Tyler shouted as Elena gasped for breath, "I have to take her back to Klaus!"

"Like I said," Stefan growled back, "I won't let you ruin my plans. You're not leaving, and Elena isn't leaving. Got it?"

Tyler's eyes flashed with anger, "How are you going to stop me?"

"If you try to leave," Stefan tightened his grip around Elena's throat, "Then I will kill her. And I _know _Klaus would never forgive you if his hybrid-making-blood-bag died under your protection..."

"You wouldn't kill her," Tyler scoffed, though he didn't sound entirely sure. "You love her too much to do that, no matter how important you think your revenge against Klaus is!"

Stefan raised an eyebrow, responding coldly, "Well she doesn't love me anymore, which is also Klaus' fault...so are you really going to hedge those bets?" Elena winced in pain as his fingers dug a little deeper into her skin, completely cutting off her circulation.

"Okay, okay," Tyler backed off, looking unnerved. "Just...don't hurt her, alright?"

"I knew you'd see things from my perspective eventually," Stefan loosened his grip on Elena, but only long enough to grab a knife from the kitchen counter. "This is what's going to happen," he ordered, "You're going to sit in the living room where I can see you. Do anything suspicious, and Elena dies. Do we understand each other?"

"Perfectly," Tyler muttered under his breath as he went to go sit on the sofa. He twisted around to watch incredulously as Stefan proceeded to tie Elena to a wooden chair in the kitchen, using thick rope that she wouldn't be able to get out of.

Elena gritted her teeth as Stefan made sure all the knots were tight enough. "What are you doing?" she hissed at him in disbelief, "I came here to help you, Stefan!" When he didn't look the slightest bit moved, she changed tactics. "Tell me where the coffins are and this can all be over," she pleaded, "We can all go back to the way things were."

"Don't you understand?" Stefan knelt down in front of her, watching apathetically as she tried to free herself from the restraints. "Things will never go back to what they were." He shook his head, "And you haven't even realized it."

She tugged angrily at her wrists as she glared at him, "Realized what?"

He stood back up, "You remember a few minutes ago when I was talking to Tyler? I told him that you didn't love me anymore..." Stefan gave her a small smile, "And you never denied it."

"What?" Elena could feel her frustration mount, "Stefan, this is ridiculous! You can't—"

Tyler chose that moment to interrupt scathingly, "So, what's the big plan? Like Elena said, we're at a stalemate. You won't let us go, but then Klaus is going to be suspicious if neither of us comes back...then he'll come looking for me, and inevitably find _you_...have you thought about that?"

"So nice of you to be worried on my behalf, Tyler," Stefan answered coolly, "But let me reassure you that I certainly won't be here by the time Klaus figures out what's going on." He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and began texting someone, "In fact, I'll be out of here as soon as the coffins get moved to a safer location."

"Coffins?" Tyler frowned, "But..." A look of comprehension slid over his face. "Do you mean to tell me that the coffins have been here in Chicago the whole time? With _you_?"

"That's right."

Tyler sputtered a few times before hissing indignantly, "Well, who are you texting? You can't possibly have a partner in crime; no one else would be stupid enough to go along with your suicide mission."

At those words, Elena stopped struggling against the ropes and immediately looked up at Stefan. He smirked at them, "Every villain needs a good sidekick."

* * *

><p><span>1 AM<span>

"Try again," Katherine commanded, bracing herself as Bonnie narrowed her eyes and sent out a burst of Power. Katherine felt it prickle at the edges of her mind, trying to find a way through. She clenched her jaw as she fought against it, using her newly discovered defense mechanisms. After a minute, the sensation went away and she looked up at Bonnie in surprise, "What, was that it?"

Bonnie shrugged, "I channeled all my Power at your mind, and you were able to hold against it. If all of this works in the way that I think it does, you should hopefully be able to resist Compulsion."

"Great," Jeremy said in a bored voice, "Can we go to Chicago now?"

"We really should," Alaric sounded worried, "We haven't heard from either Damon or Elena..." He turned to look at Bonnie, "And you said Damon didn't answer your phone call or your text message about destroying the necklace?"

"Fine," Katherine heaved a sigh, "I guess we can go." She rolled her eyes at the ceiling, "I'm sure Bill will be glad to be rid of us, at any rate."

"Should we wake him up?"

"No," she said decidedly, "I think a note should be enough. He knew that we would be leaving today, anyway." She stood up to gather her things, when her phone beeped. "Maybe it's Damon," she started to say, but then stopped when she began reading the message.

"Katherine?" Jeremy frowned, "What is it?"

"It's..." her brow furrowed, "It's Stefan. He said he needs my help."

Alaric raised his eyebrows when she didn't elaborate further, "With what?"

She hesitated, seeming to consider something before she reached over and handed him her phone. "Stefan wants me to catch the next flight to Chicago and move the coffins to another location. He gave me the address of the building where he's hiding them right now. Apparently he needs them to be moved before Klaus finds out he's there."

Jeremy's eyes widened, "Wait, does this mean what I think it means?"

Bonnie smiled, "It does." She held out her keys, "So, who wants to drive to the airport?"

* * *

><p><span>2 AM<span>

"If you would just _let _me call Elena," Damon said persuasively with a winning smile, which Klaus pointedly ignored.

"Absolutely not."

Damon scowled, "Well then stop pacing back and forth like a pathetic dog waiting for his favorite toy to come back to him."

Klaus leaned dangerously over the bar, "You forget your place, Damon."

He held up both hands in surrender, "I'm just saying...Elena has been gone for hours, and Tyler has been out looking for her for way longer than necessary. Don't you think it's possible that they're both in trouble?"

"Damon's right," Caroline piped up from her window booth, "Elena has a real knack for getting herself into these unfortunate situations, which I'm sure you know since you were, like, one of those situations. I think calling her would really be the best thing for everyone, and then we could find out where Tyler is, too. And then, see, everyone could stop worrying about whether they're lying in the proverbial ditch somewhere..." she blabbered on, not noticing Klaus massage his temples in annoyance.

"For the love of God, do you ever shut up?" he fairly roared at her, and she fell silent. "Okay," he paced back and forth once more, running his hands through his hair. "Okay," he said again, storming towards Damon. "Call her. If she answers, you better damn well make sure that you convince her to come back here at once. Understood?"

"Loud and clear," Damon grabbed his cell phone from the counter and wandered to the other corner of the bar for the illusion of privacy. Since every other person surrounding him was a vampire or hybrid, it wouldn't matter where he called her from—they would be able to hear every single word. Nevertheless, he stood in his corner and hit the speedial. He closed his eyes briefly in disappointment mingled with annoyance when her number went straight to voicemail.

"Hey, it's me," he lowered his voice, "Listen, we're all still at this bar and we're just wondering where the hell you are." Damon paused, leaning his head against the cool surface of the wall to calm his racing thoughts. "Klaus sent Tyler to find you, but now he's missing too...so yeah, if you could just head back here so we know that you're okay and everything, that would be great." He coughed, glancing over his shoulder, "I mean Blondie is really worried about you here, and I'm..." Damon trailed off, "Just come back to me, alright?"

* * *

><p><span>3 AM<span>

"What is this place?" Jeremy asked as they stood outside some sort of warehouse, "Have you ever seen it before?"

Katherine shook her head, walking up to the gated door and crushing the lock with her hand. "Come on," she called over her shoulder, pushing up the door and making her way inside. Bonnie found the light switch a second later, and they all blinked as they looked around at the coffins surrounding them.

"So," Jeremy glanced at Katherine almost nervously, "What's the plan now?"

"We hand them over to Klaus," Bonnie stated matter-of-factly, frowning when no one said anything to this proposal. "What?" she demanded, placing her hands on her hips. "You're not suggesting that we follow Stefan's orders and _actually _move them to safer place, do you?"

Alaric, who had been on his phone, walked towards them and shook his head. "Elena's phone is still going straight to voicemail, and Damon isn't picking up."

"Well, I think we can assume that something must've happened with them that is forcing Stefan to ask for Katherine's help in moving the coffins," Jeremy pointed out, "Because he's pretty much done everything else on his own up till this point."

"Exactly," Katherine glanced at Bonnie, "Don't you think it would be more...useful if we moved the coffins to a location that only _we _knew about? It would create the perfect leverage to ensure everyone's safety from Klaus..."

"You mean, before we kill him with the stake," Bonnie pursed her lips, her eyes narrowing. "Speaking of which, we haven't decided who the person to stake him is going to be."

"That would be me," Katherine said immediately, "He killed my family. I should be the one to kill him."

"Alright," Alaric stepped in quickly before anyone could argue, "We can discuss that when the time comes to it. But for now..." He spread his arms out to indicate the whole room, "How are we going to move all these coffins?"

"Wait," Katherine laid a hand on Jeremy's wrist to stop him from testing the weight of the nearest one, "I might have an idea."

"What?" he asked suspiciously as she began lifting the lids of the coffins and checking the insides of them, "What are you doing?"

"Well," she drawled, "There's no reason we have to move _all _of them..." She paused at the fourth coffin, a smile lighting up her features, "Ah, just who I was looking for." Then, before anyone could stop her, she threw open the lid of the coffin fully and yanked out the dagger from whoever was lying within it.

Bonnie gaped at her, "What the hell do you think you're doing? Why would you—"

"We're going to need help when we take down Klaus," Katherine interrupted, "And I know he'll be willing to help." She gestured to the person in the coffin, and everyone came forward to see who it was.

Elijah.

* * *

><p><em>*finale: part II will hopefully be up soon! haha I just couldn't resist bringing Elijah back for at least one chapter ;) be sure to leave a review! xoxo<em>


	16. Finale: Part II

**FINALE: PART II**

* * *

><p><em>I can say it, but you won't believe me.<br>You say you do, but you don't deceive me.  
>It's hard to know they're out there<br>It's hard to know that you still care.  
>-Dead Hearts <em>

* * *

><p><span>4 AM<span>

"Well," Stefan announced, sliding his cell phone back into his pocket and grabbing his jacket, "I'm off."

"You're _what_?" Tyler demanded, "You're leaving?"

Stefan paused at the threshold, turning back around to look at Tyler and Elena. "I've just received news that the coffins have been moved to a safe location, so I don't think I'll be sticking around to see Klaus' face when he finds out what happened...as much as I want to." With a final wave, he blurred out the door.

Elena sighed, resigned to the fact that she was going to be stuck here until someone came looking for her. Therefore, her mouth dropped open when Tyler hurried over to her and began carefully undoing the knots in the rope. "Are you okay?" he asked in concern, freeing her wrists and examining the faint bruises on them. "Man, can you believe Stefan actually went off the deep end?"

"You're helping me," Elena stated incredulously, watching as he freed the restraints around her ankles and then backed up so that she could get to her feet, "Why?"

"I wasn't going to leave you sitting here and tied to this chair," Tyler looked confused, "I'm not a heartless monster, Elena."

"I just thought…" she trailed off as Tyler went searching through the kitchen drawers for the cell phone that Stefan had confiscated. "I thought you'd want to go after Stefan before he got away. Isn't that what Klaus would want?"

"Those weren't my orders," Tyler frowned, "Of course, I'll have to tell Klaus that Stefan was here the whole time and everything…but my first priority is to bring you back to the bar." He walked towards her, and Elena nearly flinched when he wrapped his hands around her wrists. However, he only examined them for a second before gently guiding her to the sink. "We should get you cleaned up first," he ran a stream of warm water from the faucet, "Get the blood washed off."

Elena glanced at him out of the corner of her eye as he handed her a small washcloth to clean her wounds with. "But isn't Klaus going to be pissed that you didn't go find the coffins while they were still in Chicago? Now we don't know where they've been moved…"

"Well, I would have gone looking for them—if Stefan hadn't threatened to kill you if I left." Tyler shook his head, "I know he was probably bluffing, but I would never bet on your life like that."

"Because Klaus would kill you if I died?"

"No," Tyler held her gaze, "Because you're my friend."

Elena tilted her head, studying his expression. "I was wrong," she realized slowly, "There's a part of you that's still Tyler in there…a part of you who's still the friend that we all grew up with."

"Yes," he said vehemently, moving forward to grasp her hands. "That's what I've been trying to tell you!"

She gave him a small smile, and then reached over to hug him. "Thank you for helping me," she said quietly, "I'm sorry I didn't understand earlier."

He returned her hug gratefully, breathing a sigh of relief into her hair. As they pulled apart, he gave her a hopeful grin, "Think you can put in a good word with Caroline for me?"

Elena nodded, letting him lead her out the door. "I'll do my best." They exited the apartment and began walking down the dark, deserted street. In the heavy silence, the only sounds were their own footsteps against the pavement. She shivered slightly in the chill of the cold night air, and was once again surprised when Tyler immediately pulled off his leather jacket and slid it around her shoulders. "Won't you be cold?" she ventured instinctively, only to realize a second later what a stupid question that was.

"No," Tyler's eyes lit up by some faraway memory, "I always run hotter than normal."

She tugged the jacket tighter around her shoulders, "So, I guess we're heading back to the bar now?"

"Yeah," he glanced at her, "Thanks for coming along voluntarily. I know you don't want to."

Elena shrugged, heaving a sigh, "It's not like I have much of a choice."

"What do you mean?"

She hesitated, "Well, I guess there's no harm in telling you the truth now...Damon and I learned that both Stefan and the coffins were here in Chicago, so we drove up here to convince Stefan to hand them over to Klaus so that this whole thing would be over. I never..." Her breath hitched, "I guess I never considered that he would be unwilling to break his plans for revenge."

"Yeah, Stefan must have a _really _good reason for going through with this plan...I can't see why else he wouldn't give it up."

Elena frowned, "What do you mean? He already told us why he's doing it...He wants to get back at Klaus for making him lose everything he had—"

Tyler interrupted her, "Trust me, there must be another reason that he's not telling anyone about." He paused, "Who do you think his partner was?"

"Pretty sure it was Katherine," Elena didn't bother lying. What was the point? Their only hope now was that Katherine wasn't planning on betraying them...again.

"Katherine? Didn't Klaus kill her whole family?" Tyler looked thoughtful, "Did you ever think that maybe Stefan was doing all this for her?"

"To help her get revenge?"

"Well that...and maybe because he feels for her..." The phone in Tyler's pocket began ringing at that moment and he pulled it out to look at the caller ID. "Damn," he muttered, "There's like 20 missed calls."

"Who is it?"

Tyler held the phone up to his ear and glanced at Elena as he spoke, "Klaus. Yes, I have Elena with me now...yeah, we ran into some problems. I'll tell you about it when we get back to the bar...no, we're about an hour away, I think. We'll be there soon..." There was a long pause, and Elena looked up at him worriedly. "What?" Tyler stopped walking, "Why?" He ran a hand over his face, "No, I was just wondering...okay, I understand. Yes, we'll head over there now."

"What's wrong?" Elena asked as Tyler suddenly began leading them in another direction, "What did Klaus say?"

"He wants us to go to the woods," Tyler muttered under his breath, "I don't know why." He held out his cell phone for her to see, "These are the coordinates. I guess we're meeting him there or something..."

Elena could feel dread make its way through her veins, "Wait...What about Damon? Where is he? And what about Caroline?"

"I don't know."

* * *

><p><span>5 AM<span>

Elena could feel sweat on her brow as she shrugged off Tyler's jacket. Although the air was still cold, she was exhausted from trekking through the woods for nearly an hour—dodging fallen trees and trying to keep up with a hybrid.

"Sorry," he said when he looked back and saw her struggling, "Do you need help?"

"No," she snapped, ignoring the arm that he held out to her, "I'll be fine."

"We're almost there," Tyler's pace slowed as they came to a clearing, "In fact...I think the coordinates are right around...here." He looked around bemusedly, "See anything?"

Elena took a couple steps forward, listening. Everything was quiet—almost too quiet. It only added to her nerves as she and Tyler were left staring at each other. "Are you sure this is the right place?"

Someone screamed in agony.

"Jeremy!" Elena took off through the woods without a second thought, ignoring Tyler as he shouted her name from behind her. She pushed back at the branches blocking her path, not caring as they ripped through her clothes and left angry red scratches on her bare arms and face. "JEREMY!" she stumbled to a halt five minutes later when she reached another clearing and saw her brother standing there.

Or more accurately, he was standing there with Klaus' fangs an inch away from his neck—and the Gilbert ring lay on the ground, completely useless.

Tyler crashed through the thicket and joined her seconds later, his eyes wide. "Jeremy? What's going on? What are you doing here?"

"Let him go," Elena held a hand out, trying to keep her voice rational, "My brother has nothing to do with this."

"I did warn you," Klaus said bluntly, "If you didn't hand over Stefan and my coffins, then I would see to it that all of your little friends would be killed...I think starting with your last remaining family member is fitting, is it not?"

"Wait, wait," Tyler stepped in front of Elena, trying to reason with Klaus. "You can let him go. We found Stefan...he was hiding out right here in Chicago, along with the coffins."

Klaus blinked, fury flashing across his expression. "Well?" he demanded, "Where is he?"

"Well, ah, the thing is..."

"Did you," Klaus hissed, "Let Stefan get away?"

"I had no choice! He threatened to kill Elena if I—"

"You IDIOT!" Klaus roared, "You actually believed that _Stefan _would hurt his precious Elena?"

"You didn't see him!" Tyler shouted back, "He was—he looked insane, alright? The things that he was saying—he's gotten obsessed with this idea of revenge...I think he's lost it!"

"The only thing that's lost," Klaus whispered in a deadly voice, "Is all of your lives. Say goodbye, Jeremy."

"No!" Elena screamed as Klaus tore into Jeremy's throat. He let out a strangled yell, his eyes finding Elena's for the split second before he was thrown onto the ground—where he lay, motionless. "Jeremy, oh my god!" Elena fell to her knees and frantically scrambled towards her brother's unmoving body. "Please be okay, Jeremy, please! I can't lose you, too!" Hot tears streamed down her face when he wouldn't wake up, and she stared in horror at the blood covering her hands.

"On your feet," Klaus roughly grabbed her hair and pulled her upwards, "The game isn't nearly done yet." He pushed her forward, "Keep walking in that direction. Make any sudden movements, and Tyler will be the next one to die."

Elena's tears blurred her vision as she stumbled blindly in the direction that Klaus indicated, her heart thudding painfully in her chest. After about ten minutes, she heard movement coming from up ahead. Elena hastily wiped her arm against her eyes to clear her tears as she quickened her pace, her imagination already conjuring terrible images of what Klaus had planted for her to find.

"Elena."

She stopped, staring in confusion at a girl she had never seen before.

"That's Maya, my witch," Klaus said from behind her, "She's been quite useful through all of this...Just look at how she's rendered your little witch friend powerless."

"Bonnie?" Elena whispered, turning her head to see her friend slumped against a tree, her legs and wrists bound by something golden and illuminated. "My god—what have you done to her?"

"Bound her Power," Maya answered in a neutral voice, "She's powerless to do anything now."

Elena hurried towards Bonnie desperately, "Can you hear me?"

No response.

"Stay here," Klaus commanded Maya, "I'm going to show Elena the other surprises we've cooked up for her."

"YOU'RE SICK!" Elena screamed at him, "Let them go! They didn't do anything to you! I'll find Stefan, I swear! I promise, I..." She broke down in sobs, letting Klaus grab her arm and haul her in another direction through the woods.

"What the hell?" Tyler suddenly shoved past Elena, taking off at a run. "Caroline!"

Elena could only stare at the two people standing before her, both unconscious. Alaric was bound to one tree with ropes, while Caroline was bound to another with metal chains. "What..." her mouth felt too dry to speak and she choked on her words, "Are they dead?"

"Vervained," Klaus pointed at Caroline, "And the teacher has simply been knocked out."

Elena sank to her knees, giving up completely. "How did you find them all?" she asked weakly, staring at a spot of blood on the ground. "How did you..."

"Oh please," Klaus scoffed, making no attempt to drag her anyplace else. Instead, he seemed content to sit back and bask in his glory. "Did you really think your whole Scooby gang would be able to strut around Chicago and I'd never find out about it?"

"What do you want from me?" Elena looked up at him, tears streaming down her cheeks. "What do you want me to do?" At her words, Tyler moved away from Caroline and came to stand next to Elena. The implication was clear; he was on Elena's side for this.

Klaus raised an eyebrow in amusement, but didn't comment. He took out his cell phone and placed it on the ground in front of Elena. "You're going to call Stefan," he ordered, "You're going to convince him to bring the coffins here within the next hour. If he doesn't, then _all _of you will die." He knelt next to her, lowering his voice dangerously. "Jeremy is back there bleeding to death. Bonnie, Caroline, and Alaric will be next. Is that what you really want?"

Elena fumbled for the phone, her hands shaking as she pressed in Stefan's number. '_Leave a message after the beep.' _"Stefan, you have to listen to me," she pleaded, "Klaus is going to kill everyone—please! Just get over here with the coffins! I can't—I..." She let the phone fall out of her fingers, unable to keep talking any longer.

Tyler hurriedly picked it up and finished the message for her, telling Stefan the coordinates in the woods where he could find them. "Stefan, whatever your reasons for doing this are...it's not worth it. Trust me."

* * *

><p><span>6 AM<span>

"Well," Klaus broke through the silence coldly, "It's nearly been an hour. There's still no sign of Stefan."

Elena's eyes were puffy and red, but at this point she didn't have any tears left. "I tried," she said numbly, "I did everything I could."

"I know you did," Klaus responded in an overly sweet voice, "And you shouldn't blame yourself for what's about to happen. In fact, the only person you should be blaming right now is Stefan."

"Don't kill them," Elena whispered, "Please, don't kill them."

Tyler helped Elena to her feet, and they both watched with trepidation as Klaus spoke to someone on his phone. "Yes, bring him here. I want her to watch."

"Someone's coming," Tyler said in an undertone to Elena, his head cocked to the right. "More than one person...at least three or four..."

"Ah, here are my hybrids," Klaus announced as three people came traipsing into the clearing. They were dragging a body along behind them.

A scream tore through Elena's throat when she recognized who it was, and she lunged forward in desperation. Tyler caught her around the waist, though he also looked shocked. "DAMON!" She fought tooth and nail to get to him, not caring if she looked or sounded deranged. "No! NO! Let him go!" One of the hybrids kicked his body forward then and Elena struggled for breath when she saw how bloody and battered he was. "Don't kill him!" she begged Klaus, "Please, you can't kill him!"

Klaus sounded bored, "And why not?"

"Because he..." Elena started trembling violently, "Because I..." Then the words tumbled out of her mouth, "Because I love him."

"Unlucky for Damon, Stefan loves him, too." Klaus shrugged carelessly, "Perhaps the death of his only brother will change his mind."

Elena scrambled in front of Damon, trying to shield his body with her own. "You can't do this!" she screamed, "Please, don't do this!"

"Out of the way, silly girl," Klaus roughly pushed her to the side and pulled a stake out of his pocket. He paused and then sneered, "Say your final words to your lover, Elena."

"Damon!" Elena shook his shoulders desperately, "Wake up! Please, wake up!"

Shockingly, he stirred at the sound of her voice. "Elena?" he struggled to open his eyes, every bone in his body aching. "You're alright," he breathed softly, raising a hand to her cheek. "I was so worried about you."

"Okay, hold her back," Klaus ordered, and Elena let out another scream as arms circled around her waist to pull her away from Damon.

"I love you!" she gasped out as she lost her grip on him, "Whatever happens, remember that! I love you—"

Damon groaned as pain shot through his body, but he tried to lift his head anyway, "Elena? What are you..." He stopped when he saw Klaus enter his vision, holding a stake directly above his heart.

"You understand, don't you?" Klaus hissed, "Collateral damage, and all that. Goodbye Damon."

"Don't look," Tyler grabbed Elena and pulled her to his chest, cradling her in his arms. "Don't watch."

Elena felt hopelessness permeate through her heart, feeling as though something had been wrenched from her soul. "Oh god," she whispered against Tyler's chest, "It's all over, isn't it?"

Suddenly, there was a squeal of tires from behind them. Tyler pulled back from her, his mouth dropping open, "What the...?"

"What?" Elena turned around to see what everyone was looking at. "Stefan!" she could've cried in relief when she saw him hop out of a van, "You came!" She ran towards him, throwing herself into his arms. "I didn't think you would make it, I—"

"Shh," Stefan soothed, his touch gentle as he brushed the hair off her face. "I'm sorry it took me so long."

"Well, well," Klaus stepped towards them, "The prodigal brother returns at last. I was starting to think you weren't going to show up."

"It's a big night," Stefan deadpanned, "I wouldn't want to miss it."

Damon raised himself off the ground with his elbows and looked blearily at Stefan, "Late to the party as usual, baby bro."

"Old habits die hard," Stefan didn't move a muscle, "Are you okay?"

"My coffins," Klaus interrupted before Damon had a chance to respond, "Where are they?"

"In the van," Stefan gestured for the hybrids to go get them, "See for yourself."

Everyone watched silently as the three hybrid-minions opened up the back door of the van and began pulling out coffins. They dragged all of them back to the center of the clearing, and stacked them next to each other. Klaus' eyes darted back and forth, counting the coffins laid out in front of him. "Good," he said finally, "They're all here."

"Yes," Stefan said simply, "They are."

Klaus began to say something else, but suddenly the trees rustled around them. A whisper echoed through the woods, the faint sounds of a spell, "_Volare." _

"Out of the way!" Stefan shouted at Tyler, tackling him to the ground. Elena leapt backward as splinters flew by her vision, directly embedding themselves into the other three hybrids. Screams of pain filled the air as they all combusted instantly, falling to the ground in mere ashes.

"What—" Klaus sputtered, "What is the meaning of this? This is impossible! Not unless you—"

"Have the ashes of the white oak tree?" Bonnie and Maya stepped out of the trees, hand in hand. Wind began billowing around them as Maya narrowed her eyes, "You didn't honestly think I'd be on your side, Klaus, did you?"

Klaus looked enraged, and he whirled around to look at Tyler. "The ashes!" he spat wildly, "How did they find the ashes?"

"I..." Tyler looked bewildered, "I have no idea."

"You've betrayed me," Klaus was breathing heavily, his eyes wild. He turned around and his gaze fell on Caroline, who was still unconscious. With a roar of fury, he leapt at her.

"NO!" Tyler shouted, running forward to block the werewolf bite. However, it was Stefan who got there first. He let out a stream of curses as Klaus tore through his skin, and he fell to the ground next to Caroline as Klaus backed away.

"You saved her life," Klaus looked incredulous, "Why would you do that?"

Stefan looked up, his teeth gritted in pain, "Because she's my friend."

Klaus' tone grew cold at his words. "We would have been good friends, Stefan, but you chose to throw that all away. And now you will die a slow, painful death while you watch your other friends die around you." He cocked his head, "Starting with Caroline."

"Hey!"

Klaus turned around to see Rebekah standing behind him, her hands on her hips. "You're done hurting these people, Nick. Get away from the girl."

"Don't be ridiculous," he smiled at her broadly, "You're just in time for all the fun."

"Fun?" Rebekah took a step forward, "This is all fun and games to you, isn't it?"

"What are you—"

She fixed him with a steely glare, "Did you have _fun_ when you killed our mother?"

Klaus' smile faded.

"It's over, Klaus," Stefan called, and Klaus turned around to see Elena, Stefan, Bonnie, Maya, and Tyler all standing together. Damon was leaning heavily against the car next to them, but he was standing. On the other side of the clearing, both Caroline and Alaric were beginning to stir.

"I hope we're not too late," Katherine said loudly at that moment, appearing from behind the van with her arm supporting Jeremy. "I had to feed him my blood," she informed Elena, "But he'll be okay."

"Oh my god!" Elena threw her arms around Jeremy, fresh tears running down her cheeks. "Thank you," she let go of him briefly to give Katherine a one-armed hug, "Thank you so much."

Klaus took an involuntary step backwards, when a strong hand descended on his shoulder, "Going somewhere, brother?" Elijah smiled as Klaus' eyes widened, "You didn't think I'd miss the family gathering, did you?"

"But you're in the..." Klaus turned to look at the coffins, realization dawning on his features.

"Next time," Elijah offered pleasantly, "Perhaps you should look _inside _the Trojan horse, or did we learn nothing from that whole war?" He tilted his head, considering. "Of course, my advice is a moot point, since there's isn't going to be a next time."

"What do you—"

"Did you honestly think you could get away with lying about killing our mother?" Elijah shook his head, coldness descending on his features. "Father was always right about you," he looked Klaus dead in the eye, "You will never be anything more than a pathetic, friendless, insecure _coward." _Before Klaus had time to react, Elijah pulled the regenerated stake out of his pocket and swiftly slammed it into his heart, "Goodbye brother."

As Klaus burst into flames, the horizon finally lightened with the beginnings of a sunrise.

* * *

><p><strong>EPILOGUE <strong>

* * *

><p>"Home sweet home," Elena went over to the passenger side of the car so that she could swing Damon's arm around her shoulders. Together, they slowly walked towards the boarding house, with him leaning on her for support. "How are you feeling?"<p>

"Like I said back there," he staggered onto the sofa, "I'll live."

She nodded and immediately walked to the corner where he kept all his alcohol. After examining the bottles for a second, she chose a bottle of scotch and handed it to him with a smile. "You look like you could use this."

He raised an eyebrow as she perched on the edge of the coffee table in front of him, "A girl after my own heart."

Elena watched as he took a swig straight from the bottle, "So, everyone else arrived a few hours ago from the airport."

Something in the way she said the sentence made him pay attention, "Who, exactly?"

"Jeremy, Alaric, Bonnie," she counted on her fingers, "Caroline and Tyler." She avoided his gaze, "Maya stayed in Chicago to work at Ria's bar...Elijah and Rebekah said they're going to wake up the rest of their family members and go back home, try and rebuild a new life for themselves..."

Damon didn't miss the absence of two names in particular, "Stefan and Katherine didn't come back?"

"They weren't on the flight with everyone else, no."

"Well," he glanced up at her, trying to gauge her expression, "How do you feel about that?"

Elena moved so that she was sitting on the sofa next to him, and she reached over to cover his hand with hers. "I'm glad he's alright, and I'm glad that we could use Klaus' blood to heal the werewolf bite..." Then she took a deep breath, "But I let him go, Damon, remember? We both did...I told you before, I made the decision to move on with my life. He's a part of my past, there's no changing that. But he's not part of my present, and he's certainly not part of my future."

Damon's lips twitched, "Would it be presumptuous of me to ask if I was in either of those scenarios?"

She reached over to stroke his face, "You always were." She leaned forward to brush her lips across his cheek, "My past, my present, and my future."

He cleared his throat slightly, "During that fight with Klaus...well, I might've been delusional for some of it. I know vervain can have some strange side effects...hallucinations...dreams..." Elena grinned, shifting so that she was sitting in his lap. His arm snaked around her waist to hold her close. "I mean, I might've imagined that you said some things...but perhaps I didn't quite hear you..."

"You weren't hallucinating," Elena mumbled blissfully as his mouth closed over hers. Unlike their other kisses, this one was soft and sensual, without a trace of urgency. For the first time, she allowed herself to really _feel _the coolness of his hands against her skin, the heat of his lips moving against hers. When she pulled back, she gave him a soft smile. "I told you that I loved you, and I have never spoken truer words in my life." She let her hand rest on his chest, exactly above his heart. "But in case you need to hear it again...I love you, Damon Salvatore."

He brought his hand over hers to hold it in place against his chest. "You are my heart," he whispered to her, "I love you, too."

* * *

><p><em>fin.<em>

* * *

><p><strong>*yay the hiatus is finally over! first off, I would like to thank everyone who read and reviewed this fic! All your lovely comments have been so supportive and amazing. I hope you liked the ending ;) thanks again + be sure to review! xoxo<strong>


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